Libertarian Healthcare

1edwood79 · Oct 2, 2015

Anarchism is a broad class of political thinking. Some libertarians are anarchists. All anarchists are not libertarians. There are left anarchists who don't believe in government, but also don't believe in the right to own property. Libertarian anarchists don't believe in government but hold sacred the right to own property. Voluntarists are one such group. I like a lot of what they say but find a lot of their views as Utopian.

The reason Monty Python echoes in your head is because you've been inundated with anti-libertarian propaganda for your entire life. Don't worry it's completely natural.

MunoRN, RN · Oct 2, 2015

Here is the Libertarian Party on healthcare. Not all libertarians are party members and they may have different views. My view is that the system were are instituting now has no way to assess the value of the services and products being used because of the elimination of market cues. This is what causes economic disasters like the one unraveling in Venezuela right now. Bread lines in the Soviet Union is another result of this kind of planning.

From the beginning of your link:

As recently as the 1960s, low-cost health insurance was available to virtually everyone in America - including people with existing medical problems. Doctors made house calls. A hospital stay cost only a few days' pay. Charity hospitals were available to take care of families who could not afford to pay for healthcare.

It is true that healthcare was much cheaper in the 1960's and prior, have you thought why that is? If you showed up in an ER having a heart attack the most common treatment was a dark, quiet room and plenty of morphine. That's a pretty cheap treatment compared today, where you'll get a heart cath, maybe emergent open heart, a VAD, a prolonged rehab stay, etc. Are you actually agreeing that we should get rid of all modern treatment options because they cost more?

There's little arguing that our current for-profit market driven set-up drives up costs. We pay not only more for healthcare than every other civilized nation, we pay many times more, and we're also the only country that doesn't utilize a single payer system. You don't think those two facts have anything to do with each other?

Do you really think we'd be better off if big pharma was not held to any requirements in terms of safety and efficacy?

enuf_already · Oct 2, 2015

Methinks we're being played. Enough mumbo jumbo for me.

1edwood79 · Oct 2, 2015

Problem is that we are going to end up in the same boat with this system. Even in the sixties health care was relatively heavily regulated.

Here's a question for you. Why is it that every other technical resource we have now, tvs, cell phones, appliances, etc. have gotten cheaper over the years, while the price of healthcare a heavily tech reliant industry has gone up? It wouldn't have anything with corporatism and government regulation would it?

AcuteHD · Oct 2, 2015

The reason Monty Python echoes in your head is because you've been inundated with anti-libertarian propaganda for your entire life. Don't worry it's completely natural.

He ignores most questions. Replies with 'feel good' phrases that could apply to any platform on many questions. Refers other questions to a non-useful link. But why does he have to disrespect Monty Python? Okay how is Monty Python part of a grand anti-libertarian conspiracy?

AcuteHD · Oct 2, 2015

Here's a question for you. Why is it that every other technical resource we have now, tvs, cell phones, appliances, etc. have gotten cheaper over the years, while the price of healthcare a heavily tech reliant industry has gone up? It wouldn't have anything with corporatism and government regulation would it?

You can't make healthcare in china using cheap labor.

MunoRN, RN · Oct 2, 2015

Problem is that we are going to end up in the same boat with this system. Even in the sixties health care was relatively heavily regulated.
Here's a question for you. Why is it that every other technical resource we have now, tvs, cell phones, appliances, etc. have gotten cheaper over the years, while the price of healthcare a heavily tech reliant industry has gone up? It wouldn't have anything with corporatism and government regulation would it?

Healthcare costs has gone up for many reasons, included reasons pointed out here: healthcare today is a completely different product than it was 50 years ago, treating an MI with inpatient comfort care might cost a couple thousand dollars, today's treatments have a significantly higher survival rate and there's additional cost that goes along with that; it's not unusual for a VAD patient to rack up more than a million dollars in cumulative costs. We could certainly be more responsible with providing those treatments, for more the most part those are costs we're happy to incur. I'm still not sure if you're really suggesting we should back to comfort care as the primary treatment for these conditions.

Another reason is a lack of the same consolidation you complain there is too much of. Private insurers, which make up an inefficient and fragmented system cost us many times what the more consolidated and efficient single payer system does. Overhead costs of private insurers runs about 10-14%, medicare costs about 4% to provide the same function. Inflation of costs for services covered by the less-regulated private insurance industry is also much worse; 7% inflation rate for private insurance compared to 5% for medicare. Another source of high costs is that we pay many times what other countries pay for the same services and drugs, which is because we don't regulate these prices.

Farawyn · Oct 2, 2015

He ignores most questions. Replies with 'feel good' phrases that could apply to any platform on many questions. Refers other questions to a non-useful link. But why does he have to disrespect Monty Python? Okay how is Monty Python part of a grand anti-libertarian conspiracy?

Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Oct 2, 2015

Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

I fart in your general direction!

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Oct 2, 2015

I fart in your general direction!

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!!

Farawyn · Oct 2, 2015

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!!

Goddess

AcuteHD · Oct 2, 2015

This makes me sad. But pile it on.