Healthcare in the free market

Healthcare in the free market Before I get into the problems with this video I'd like to point out some (at least partially) successful socially insured services that Americans enjoy: Road/highway maintenance, law enforcement, firefighting services, and schools. And "socially insured" is not a form of governing, like socialism, it's a form of funding insurance. Pundits love to confuse those terms in order to scare people.

So the video is based on a flawed premise; treating healthcare like it should be in the free market. A market is only free if the customer is free to walk away from the product with no consequence (other than that of not having the product). That's how free market prices adjust. If too many people walk away, they lower their prices.
This is not to be confused with their depiction of him having no choice to buy or not to buy. An American resident's taxes pays for roads, law enforcement, and firefighters whether they want them to or not; whether they use them or not. It's done this way because these things are considered pillars of a civil society.

My life is not in danger if I choose not to buy a coffee but healthcare doesn't work like that. In many circumstances I can't walk away from the product which means, in an open (non-regulated) market, vendors can keep prices artificially high because I'll buy it anyway. Sort of like trying to make that coffee choice with a gun pointed at you. You could still choose to walk away but you might be too injured to work or you might even die. Not a lot of freedom in that choice.

The for-profit healthcare industry is why US healthcare costs are in the order of 3x what non-private (socially insured) costs are (Google it) in other 1st world nations. The industry lobbies very hard to stay part of the healthcare equation and the compromises made to keep them in profits is a big part of why the US system is so broken. This despite overwhelming evidence that countries that implement socially insured healthcare do it cheaper and better. No, not perfect, but better in almost every measurable metric.

The healthcare industry works hard to scare people with trigger words like "socialism" or "communism" counting on them to take them at their word and not do their research. I urge my friends living in the States to spend just one hour of your time doing some research for yourself instead of letting media outlets give it to you.

Americans deserve way better for their money than what they're getting. The free market is not the answer to everything. It's good for many things, but not services that the social fabric of a society rely on. Big, profitable industries have shown that they'll throw society under the bus in favour of profits every time.