…government attempts to mandate healthy behavior don’t work. For example, a 2015 scientific study analyzed the “Los Angeles Fast-Food Ban”, a 2008 zoning regulation restricting opening/remodeling of standalone fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles. Data showed that consumption of fast food and obesity increased in all geographic areas from 2007 to 2012, and the increase was significantly greater in the regulated area.
Politicians need a “system” to expand central control. Central control breeds mediocrity. Government programs play to the lowest common denominator. One size fits all quickly becomes one size fits none. Call me crazy, but I want the second opinion about my treatment to come from physician, not a government bureaucrat evaluating me from his cubicle.
As Malcolm Gladwell of Tipping Point fame opined, rather than expanding insurance we should keep insurance in its proper role for “unexpected, big-ticket things.” And “the bottom end of healthcare should be a market-driven cash economy.”
Competition brings out the best in us. For example, Theranos, a company started by a Stanford freshman provides 14 accurate basic kidney/liver function tests from one drop of blood for $7.27 at Walgreens. By contrast, my insurance co-pay for lab tests is $40.
Politicians can’t fix our medical care access problems. That’s up to us. As a start, consider enlisting direct pay physicians (here, here, and here) who give personal care at reasonable prices and replace the ACA with your own healthcare system.
Forum for Healthcare Freedom 