Markets in Health Care

Some people sing the praises of markets, and some don't. Some say that we need a free market for health care, and some say we've tried that and it doesn't work. Well, we've got markets for health care, but they're not what you might think.

The first market is for health insurance. The providers are the big insurance companies and the customers are companies that employ people. The customer wants to pay as little as possible and so if a provider charges too much, they go to a different provider.

The second market is for health care. The providers are doctors, clinics, hospitals and so on, and the customers are the big insurance companies. The customer wants to pay as little as possible and so if a provider charges too much, they go to a different provider.

Notably absent from those two markets are you and I.

I want a market where I am the customer. Which health care reform bill provides that?

Chivalry

This afternoon as I poured microwave popcorn into my wife's bowl first, I had a new thought. As with many things, if you have to do it, doing it doesn't reflect positively on you. Behaving in the manner of a gentleman towards a lady only matters if you might not have done so. In addition, making chivalry a matter of gender misses the point. It's better to be nice unilaterally, not out of social obligation.