Healthcare - Supply and Demand

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DISCLAIMER:

I probably have made hundreds of grammatical errors as well as spelling problems and I never cite sources. Live with it! All of the information here can be easily confirmed via a simple google search. I don't believe in spoon feeding people, you have to WANT to learn and grow...

THAT SAID PLEASE CONTINUE.....

I've been slacking a lot on my political blogs and I want to get back into that. If you find what you read here interesting please subscribe as there will be many more to come. Notice I didn't say if you agree or disagree just if you find it interesting.

My primary disagreement with a nationalized healthcare system is the fact that socialism makes me feel sick! Passing control of anything to the government's control and imprisoning myself to the power of the men with the big guns also doesn't sit well with me. I will (for this blog) set those feelings aside and attempt to present a more rational argument against the NHS. One of supply and demand.

Basic economics teaches that supply and demand governs a free economy. If demand for a product/service is high the price is correspondingly high, more so if the supply of that product/service is low. Conversely products/services with a low demand (or high supply) generally have a low price. This is a gross oversimplification but it is sufficient for this discussion.

The supply and demand equation also works from the right of the equation. If the price of a product/service (we refer to service from here on out) is low (or Free) and the demand for that service is high the supply of that service is quickly depleted. In a free market situation the price is simply adjusted upwards to recreate an equilibrium balance in the economy. It is here that the logic for a nationalized healthcare system breaks down.

Ask almost any of the 37 million americans living below the poverty line, as well as many million more living close to it what issue number one is for them and they will most likely answer healthcare. Those who dream of the NHS say at least 50 million americans live without healthcare of any kind right now. (I have a couple of problems with that number, firstly about 50% of those qualify for government aid already in place and another 35% are at the age where they are invincible and don't NEED no stinkin' healthcare but we'll stick with that for now). 50 million people who don't have and "want" healthcare (since of course the government knows whats best and EVERYONE must "want" healthcare) creates a pretty significant demand! Combined that with drastically reduced prices (read FREE healthcare) and all of a sudden we are faced with a huge SUPPLY problem!

Try this on for size. As of July 2007 there we approximately 60 million people living in the UK, a "model" of an American NHS. This total population is only slightly higher than the demand presented in the previous paragraph so it will work well for this example. The current waiting list for surgery in the UK stretches to over 800,000 individuals ! Free surgery doesn't do anybody any good if they're dead does it? Doctors simply don't have the resources to fulfill the demand of such a population. The British healthcare system recently promised to reduce the wait for HOSPITAL CARE to FOUR MONTHS!!! Some great promise that is. See the only response when demand and price are fixed is a shift in supply, so thats exactly what the UK did, they FURTHER reduced supply of services they didn't feel were terribly important. The wait time for a dentist is so long that many in the UK take a nice swig of vodka, grab a pair of pliers and yank away! Lovely isn't it?

Ok, so maybe the brits are just stupid right? Lets take a look at Canada. More than 1,000,000 Canadians cannot find a personal healthcare provider. Some towns hold lotteries to get a personal physician and out of thousands of "needy" people, ONE per week gets their wish. Others sit and wait. One patient suffering from a blocked artery that prevented proper digestion of food was forced to fly to (yes) THE UNITED STATES after canada determined her procedure was elective. At the time of her surgery doctors said she had (maybe) a WEEK to live.

Aha I figured it out, see the governments seek to reduce the supply problem by reducing the demand (that means KILLING PEOPLE). Gee isn't socialism wonderful? Oh yeah I said I wouldn't do that huh? Oops....

Okay so thats (most of ) my rational argument. I know I am a hate-mongering, fear-mongering, racist, evil, neo-nazi, neo-con freak but I don't hate people. A more affordable preventative care system here would save many many lives here. The question is whether you want the government to run that system. Keep in mind that this is the government that stole billions of dollars of social security money and spent them on idiot projects running our seniors completely out of their promised retirements! I don't trust them!

One more note on that whole "free" thing. The "government" doesn't (and shouldn't) participate in production of goods or services for a profit. Their money comes from me and you (Ok thats not true either top 10% give the government about 70% of their money, you and I only about 3.5% TOTAL). That means the only way this WONDERFUL NEW NHS will exist is to increase TAXES or decrease SPENDING. Which route do you think they will choose?

Exactly.

Feel free to post questions and comments, so long as they are useful and well-informed. I welcome a debate.