Here Comes the Health Care Debate

On Business Week’s website they have a section called the Debate Room. It’s a place where they bring up a hot topic and find two experts to write essays, one for each side of the issue. The topic this month was Universal Health Care, and they featured Onkar Ghate of ARI.

“Universal Health Care: No Sick Joke
Small businesses—and large—have trouble attracting the best job candidates because of the high price of health care. Entrepreneurship demands nationalized medical insurance. Pro or con?” – businessweek.com

The two essays are very interesting, but it’s even more interesting to read the comments and see who supports each side. It seems that people are split on the issue, but more doctors agree with Onkar. They feel that the government is creating an unfair market. One even gave the example of cosmetic surgery where the prices are cheaper because of the lack of government regulations. This allows for the free market and competition to keep the pricing and quality in check.

With the current state of health care I don’t believe there is a quick fix. Also, socializing health care is not the answer. Just look at how bad the government handles education, Medicare, social security, and welfare. Do you want the government to handle your heath care too? Looking at their track record with other social programs, I don’t think it would be a good idea. The only thing that could help the current situation is limiting government interference, not creating more.