Paul Krugman had an op-ed piece in the NY Times this morning on Health Care which led me to post the following on the Times Forum--
No on health care and health insurance
There are two basic problems with health care and health insurance. The words "health" and "insurance."
Healthy people do not need care. Moveover, while the term was probably intended to make something that is basically undesirable, though almost inevitably necessary, more attractive, it has been hijacked by all sorts of ancillary industries (health food, health spas etc) that nobody wants to pay for somebody else to enjoy, that it is really a gross misnomer.
Insurance, on the other hand, is something we expect to take care of rare, unanticipated and potentially catastrophic events. So we have fire insurance, burial insurance, hurricane insurance, etc. Medical care doesn't fit the bill because it is something that almost everyone is going to need at some point in their life span.
So, medical care needs to be universally available when needed. Why? Because sick people are a hazard to everyone with whom they have contact. Even if what's making them sick is not contageous, the fluids that a sick person shucks off are dangerous in themselves.
But why make it a government function to assure adequate medical attention? Well, because it fits. The purpose of government is to do things that the recipients of a service either can't do for themselves, don't want (e.g. incarceration), or lack the capacity to appreciate (elementary school children).
The reason economics hasn't made this quite clear is because it proceeds from the assumption that people's behavior is guided by what they want. Consequently, what to do about things people DON'T want hasn't gotten much attention. Though I would argue that there are many more of the latter than the former.
In any event, it seems pretty clear that people don't want "health care" and they don't want to pay for "health insurance" either. So, perhaps its time to put a Medical Assurance Program on the table. Let's put a MAP on the map.
Posted by Hannah at August 27, 2004 11:37 AM