In Fixing Food, Richard A. Williams, a 30-year cost-benefit analyst at the FDA, says the agency isn’t protecting the public. Book review here.
John Cochrane video on free market health insurance.
Nearly 5 million people are paying no premium at all for their Obamacare Insurance. (WSJ) But if they had the cash, almost all of them would do something else with it.
In Vancouver, you can get a fentanyl high for free – courtesy of the Canadian public health system.
Kim Bellard at The Health Care Blog admits he has been wrong. About his belief in managed care? Or, managed competition? Or, his failure to appreciate the power of markets? Or, patient power? No. None of these. He was wrong because he hoped people would care more about health and more about patients than profits. Not exactly the mea culpa we were looking for.
Dr Goodman and Devon, I agree with about 80% of your comments overall.
However I disagree with the somewhat snarky observation that the 5 million people getting free health insurance would “do something else with the money.”
Of course they would do something else, but that is because vast numbers of Americans are short-sighted and economically pretty dumb.
Millions do not save for retirement or buy enough life insurance, and Social Security (i.e. forced insurance) comes to their rescue.
I am an unabashed paternalist, based on my own reading and of course personal observations.