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Originally Posted by Illustro Cado  The economy doesn't work like that. A government option isn't competition because it can always be propped up by tax money. This eliminates free-market forces which would normally bring costs down which causes the opposite to happen. And government, instead of reforming their programs or shutting them down, tends to respond by throwing more money at it, like with education. This makes government programs astronomically expensive in the long term.
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Nope.
Free market works when prices are elastic enough. But in health sector prices are inelastic, so free market has no effect in lowering prices.
Also, a profit driven market works when high demand is desirable. But in health sector high demand means more sick people.
Companies take care only of profitable health problems, so their approach to health is not complete and comprehensive. Government programs in the other hand have the advantage of scale economy.
Government programs do national planning of health according to demographics for the future. Private sector plans short term in their locations only.
Now let's face a real problem:
Sex infections still growing in U.S., says CDC | U.S. | Reuters
Who is going to take care of this? Will companies help those who can't pay, or will infections spread among Americans, just like in Africa? Who will conduct preventive campaigns? Preventive campaigns to reduce demand is not profitable for private health sector.
If government does not take care, and companies do not care, then nobody cares.
If you have one ill person, and that person has no money, another person may be infected.
If that person has sex before knowing about the infection, there might be 4 people.
So if you meet someone, and that someone is unfaithful with any of those 4 ill people, you may be sick becuase someone else had no money, and because your partner was not faithful.
There are social pressures among the young people to have sex.
If they get ill, and their parents have not enough money, basically you have an African scenario: No heath care and strong social incentives to spread infections.