Michael McKay and Meghan O'Toole of RadioFreeMarket.com conversed with me over health care economics with an Austrian school, free-market perspective on September 5th. Meghan and I are both graduates of Mises University 2009. [FYI - The entire set of lectures is available at Mises.org at this link.]
Our topic was health care and I must say it was a pleasure to interview with Michael and Meghan, due to their keen insights into the subject. The discussion was somewhat centered around the current national debate and also my campaign's health care plank.
In Part 1, we discuss the "general Welfare" clause of the Constitution (previously covered in a discussion started by user Jgecik here), the difficulties of economic calculation in a socialized market, state mandates, and more!
In Part 2, we discuss medical tort reform, and Meghan elaborates on how there is "no free lunch" when it comes to health care.
In Part 3, we started off by discussing Hans-Hermann Hoppe's very short article "A Four-Step Health Care Solution." Mandated licensing versus voluntary accreditation, insurance portability over state lines, and the current form of risk-pools versus free market risks pools are the key topics discussed.
In Part 4, I explained how the free market could itself solve the "pre-existing condition" issue that we have in today's HMO-based, annual renewal system. Michael covers the difference between the State's required mandates by force, and all of the features that would evolve in a free market by adding a fabulous analogy using the evolution of automobiles. Michael then gave a brief history of government intervention and control in the health care industry, and Meghan followed up with a great example of "needs" and "food socialism" that is well worth listening to.
In Part 5, I was given the chance to wrap up the talk by explaining how the insidious effects of inflation are making us poorer - and hence how health care appears to get more and more expensive each year.
5 Comments
Maria Folsom
Jake, Great interview about the economics of health care! It made sense and you explained it very clearly. I totally agree, of course! Hope this gets around to everyone in your district.
sbrawler
I found the list of state mandates for coverage Jake refers to in Part 3. For example, if you are a woman in Maryland, you are paying (and are covered I suppose) for testicular cancer. That makes about as much sense as buying flood insurance in Phoenix. Or earthquake insurance on the east coast.