Posted by
Laura L. Hollis, JD on Monday, August 17, 2009 8:07:18 PM
I agree with
the editors of
National Review Online that rationing - by which they mean personal decision-making - by
price, is far better than rationing by government
policy. The potential recipients of the care should be the ones deciding what they can afford and what makes sense under the circumstances. NOT some government bureaucrat or "health care panel."
BUT ...
Rationing by price is only fair and sensible
if the prices are fair and sensible. As I wrote in my column
today, the problem with our health care "system" now is that it isn't really a private exchange anymore, and too many Americans could never afford to pay for the care they receive. Of course new and experimental treatments will be expensive - at least initially. But, unlike so many other commodities and services, the price never seems to go down as more people have access to these treatments.
We have GOT to get the root of the skyrocketing costs. Otherwise, not only will single-payer health care be inevitable, the collapse of the health care system - with or without a single-payer system - will be inevitable as well. And
that is the real looming crisis.