Single-Out Medical Care

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From a classic 2001 article by Milton Friedman, "How to Cure Health Care": "Two simple observations explain both the high level of spending on medical care and the dissatisfaction with that spending. The first is that most payments to physicians or hospitals or other caregivers for medical care are made not by the patient but by a third party—an insurance company or employer or governmental body. The second is that nobody spends somebody else’s money as wisely or as frugally as he spends his own. No third party is involved when we shop at a supermarket. We pay the supermarket clerk directly: the same for gasoline for our car, clothes for our back, and so on down the line. Why, by contrast, are most medical payments made by third parties? The answer for the United States…show more content…
Heasley Posted 9:42 PM Post Link 23 Comments Links to this post 23 Comments: At 3/05/2012 10:16 PM, ws4whgfb said... Why single out medical care? Food is more essential to life than medical care. Why not exempt the cost of food from taxes if provided by the employer? Because the way insurance works they give a discount if you are part of a large group. It spreads the risk making the cost per person less. It is natural for one company to put all its employees in a group so they can all get insurance at a reduced cost than if they bought insurance as individuals. At 3/05/2012 10:19 PM, ws4whgfb said... Why single out medical care? Food is more essential to life than medical care. Why not exempt the cost of food from taxes if provided by the employer? It's a way of forcing healthy young people to pay for insurance they might not otherwise purchase individually, so you can insure sick older people at a reduced cost? At 3/05/2012 10:20 PM, Mark J. Perry said... Why don't employers then provide car insurance and homeowner's insurance for their employees? And food, clothing, electronics, autos, etc. all at group discounts? At 3/05/2012 11:08 PM, Ron H.
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