Dr. Madianos makes some excellent points about the Pyrrhic victory in
the recent Medicare tussle.

In fact, all the political wrangling over Medicare is just a small
taste of what's in store for physicians if the US ever adopts any kind
of single-payer system. Spending decisions will be based on political
expediency, with patient and physicians caught in the crossfire
between political factions. Medicare suffers from all the typical
flaws of socialized medicine (rising costs, declining payments to
physicians, unhappy patients), because it is in essence "single payer"
for the elderly.

All of these problems come about because of the mistaken presumption
that health care should be a "right" guaranteed by the government.
Health care is *need*, but not a "right", and that is a critical
distinction. One man's need does not give him an automatic claim on
someone else's labor or property. If my neighbor is hungry, he
doesn't automatically get to take anything he wants from my pantry.

Whenever the government attempts to guarantee any service (such as
health care), it must necessarily control it. The end result of this
road will be the immoral and deadly rationing we see in Canada's system.

There is an alternative to government-run medical care -- namely the
free market. In the other 5/6-ths of the US economy which is still
relatively free, we see falling costs and rising quality, something we
just take for granted (or even complain about whenever we buy a new
computer that's faster and cheaper than last year's model!)

The sectors of medicine which are relatively less regulated (i.e.,
more free market) such as LASIK and cosmetic surgery also show this
typical pattern of falling costs and rising quality. This can and
should be the norm in *all* sectors of medicine. The benefits of a
free market to both patients and physicians would be incalculable.
Such a system would be both moral and practical.

For more on moral defense of the free market approach to health care
and health insurance, please see:

"FAQ on Free Market Health Insurance"
<http://www.westandfirm.org/blog/2008/05/faq-on-free-market-health-insurance.htm\
l>

"Health Care Is Not A Right"
<http://www.westandfirm.org/Peikoff-01.html>

--------------------
Paul Hsieh, MD
E-mail: <paulhsiehmd@...>
Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine: <http://www.WeStandFIRM.org>