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142 points helloworld | 3 comments | | HN request time: 1.782s | source
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seibelj ◴[] No.12306806[source]
Can anyone succinctly explain the benefits of having a market for private health insurance companies, rather than a single provider of health insurance (government, aka "public option")? Can a capitalist case be made for their existence? Does the lack of a large private insurance market in countries with government-provided health insurance cause lots of inefficiencies and waste?
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Randgalt ◴[] No.12306920[source]
The purpose of government is not to require the most efficient option. Government isn't capable of it anyway. Government is force - nothing more. The purpose of government is to protect our rights. "Single payer" (a euphemism for socialized medicine) by definition violates rights by forcing people to do things against their will. For example, in Canada (until recently) people were prohibited from using private health care even if they want to.

The health systems in Europe are not radically different from the US system. The efficiencies of each are difficult to quantify without context. For example, the US invents most of the drugs and medical technology used by the world. Would this still happen if there was more invasive regulation? We can't know.

Besides all of this, think of every other area of the market where the government insinuates itself. Are public schools better than private schools? Almost never. Is the US postal system better than FedEx? Of course not. The government is not a commercial entity. The incentives and influences on it are not conducive to producing quality products at good prices.

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1. blocktuw ◴[] No.12307074[source]
I believe your examples of public services being worse than their private counterparts is a specious argument. Most private schools are paid for by rich people. The cost to attend is higher than public school so it would reason that the quality is better. Same for USPS vs FedEx. The shipping rates for USPS are much cheaper.

Some people are price sensitive. Cheaper is all they can manage to afford and are willing to accept less quality in return. As a healthy person I'd rather take a two percent annual increase in insurance premiums for lower quality of care since I do not have much need for services.

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2. Randgalt ◴[] No.12307110[source]
Where's your evidence that most private school is paid for by rich people? Anecdotally, the people that I know that use private schools are middle class. Also, if there weren't public schools there would be more varieties of private schools.

"As a healthy person I'd rather take a two percent annual increase in insurance premiums for lower quality of care since I do not have much need for services." -- And I wouldn't. Why do your views trump others who disagree?

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3. monocasa ◴[] No.12308053[source]
Define "middle class".