“Water ban this weekend”
I saw one of those big utility signs parked along the road this week. The message in big green dots said “water ban this weekend. Friday 6pm until Midnight Sunday.” And I thought to myself ever so smugly that a free market in water would never have this problem. When the supply gets thin, the price goes up. And people decide that maybe watering their lawn isn’t the best use of their hard earned dollars. Water ban averted.
And then I imagine the day that I drive by the hospital and there’s a sign that says “No medical care this weekend, due to overuse.”
Because I’ve heard the argument that medicine is far too important to leave to “the free market.” I agree in one respect; that medicine is important. Far too important not to leave to the free market. When the government runs out of “free” health care, where will you go? They don’t sell it in bottles at Safeway.
Number one: We have yet to achieve a true “Free Market” invisible hand Adam Smith utopia. It’s unachievable. No market in this country has ever be totally “deregulated”. Unless all corporate welfare and subsidies are completely done away with and all regulations are repealed, no true free market exists. also, with the way the American people abuse credit cards, HELOCS and cash out refinances, I sincerely doubt that they would think twice about a few extra bucks for water use. God forbid they should starve their well manicured McMansion Lawns.
Second: While there aren’t signs on hospitals that say, “No medical care..” There are certainly PLENTY of cases of people who are turned away for needed care because they are either uninsured or under insured. Doctors no longer make decisions about healthcare, they are simply forced to make phone calls to some insurance adjuster with limited medical knowledge who is only concerned with one thing: The bottom line. Since you have probably never been without adequate insurance, I suspect that you haven’t ever experienced a medical establishment turning you away because you cannot pay. I was once a contractor making exceptional money and was offered NO healthcare. I couldn;t buy adequate insurance because the underwriters rejected me for having a history of cancer in my family. I was left with nothing, and turned away for care. So, Yes, In a sense, I *DID* see a sign on the door except it said, “No medical care to anyone who doesn’t reach our standards”