Health Care and the Free Market

Two weeks ago the ARI put out a short opinion piece titled "Be Healthy or Else!". It nicely summarizes a free-market viewpoint rarely found anywhere else.

But even better, because it gives real-life examples, is John Stossel's recent "Medical Competition Works for Patients". In this column, Stossel gives numerous examples of areas of the health care world where free-market principles still thrive, where competition and pricing are not being altered by government regulation or even insurance company's policies. And the results? Quality in those areas continues to go up, and prices continue to go down. Quite the opposite of what we see across most of the health care world in recent years, eh? To get some great examples of the free-market at work in health care, this column is must reading!

And just as good is his previous column that details how Whole Foods ditched the traditional health insurance game in favor of HSAs -- Health Savings Accounts -- for its employees. The results, and Whole Food CEO John Mackie's understanding of the principles involved, are impressive and instructive. Also must reading!