Required reading.
As a Swede currently living in the United States, with actual experience of Swedencare, I must reply to the delusions propagated by professor Robert H. Frank in his June 15 article in the New York Times, titled “What Sweden Can Teach Us About Obamacare.”
It is surprising to read something so out of line with basic economic theory from an economics professor. But theory aside, it would have sufficed for professor Frank to have taken a field trip down to the nearest public emergency room to have his illusions irreparably shattered. The reality is that Swedish healthcare is the perfect illustration of the tragedy of central planning. It is expensive and — even worse — it kills innocent people.
…There is nothing economically mysterious about health care — it is just another service. Like any other it can be plentifully provided on a free market at affordable prices and constantly improving quality. But like everything else, it breaks down when the central planners get their hands on it, which they now have. To claim that the problems are due to a “market failure” in health care is like saying that there was a market failure in Soviet bread production.
via The Truth About SwedenCare – Klaus Bernpaintner – Mises Daily.
Others have been down this path, do we have to do it in the typically American governmental (expensive, borderline incompetent) version? Can’t we just jump to the free market?
Very nice article. It seems to me that free market health care works well in many circumstances, but emergency medicine poses a challenge. I’m not sure how a free market system can resist the temptation to do a wallet biopsy before beginning the million dollar workup on a trauma patient.