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The Water Cooler
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When does the idiot finally get it?
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<blockquote data-quote="poopgiggle" data-source="post: 1427184" data-attributes="member: 6406"><p>Without insurance, you would have people saving up in special accounts in case of medical emergency, which is basically the same thing except that individuals lack the negotiating power of insurance companies so prices would be worse. I'm not saying that insurance-like organizations are doomed to fail, but I <em>am</em> saying that purely corporate profit-based solutions are by nature inefficient.</p><p></p><p>There are already examples of goods and services that are impractical for markets to allocate, but still really important, so that governments heavily regulate, control, and subsidize them. An example is electricity; it's effectively a natural monopoly with the way the Bulk Electric System works now, so government needs to step in and regulate prices. Could you live without electricity? Probably, but living a modern existence is impossible without it. The Founders only knew of electricity as "that thing that Ben keeps screwing around with" so there's nothing to address that kind of public utility situation in the Constitution. (E: I suppose I should add this for clarity. Healthcare is the same way. You can live without it, but it's something that's come to be regarded as an essential part of modern life. Like electric power, it's something that isn't solved very well by markets so the state needs to do <em>something</em>)</p><p></p><p>Basically I'm saying that the private sector alone won't really be able to figure this out, and that it's the place for either the Federal government or the state governments to kick off a better solution, like co-ops.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="poopgiggle, post: 1427184, member: 6406"] Without insurance, you would have people saving up in special accounts in case of medical emergency, which is basically the same thing except that individuals lack the negotiating power of insurance companies so prices would be worse. I'm not saying that insurance-like organizations are doomed to fail, but I [i]am[/i] saying that purely corporate profit-based solutions are by nature inefficient. There are already examples of goods and services that are impractical for markets to allocate, but still really important, so that governments heavily regulate, control, and subsidize them. An example is electricity; it's effectively a natural monopoly with the way the Bulk Electric System works now, so government needs to step in and regulate prices. Could you live without electricity? Probably, but living a modern existence is impossible without it. The Founders only knew of electricity as "that thing that Ben keeps screwing around with" so there's nothing to address that kind of public utility situation in the Constitution. (E: I suppose I should add this for clarity. Healthcare is the same way. You can live without it, but it's something that's come to be regarded as an essential part of modern life. Like electric power, it's something that isn't solved very well by markets so the state needs to do [i]something[/i]) Basically I'm saying that the private sector alone won't really be able to figure this out, and that it's the place for either the Federal government or the state governments to kick off a better solution, like co-ops. [/QUOTE]
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