Sioux City Journal

Competition will lower health care costs

Posted: Thursday, December 27, 2007

SIOUX CITY -- Monday's mini missed the mark. The author insinuated that President Bush is the genesis of expensive health care.

Did Bush flick his evil Republican wand, forcing prices higher? Hardly.

Neither are rising costs the products of a failure in the health care market.

Rather, health care has ceased to be a free market -- it is expensive due to a lack of competition among providers. The lack of competition and high prices can be blamed solely on government intervention. If truly free market competition were allowed, the price of health care would certainly decline.

The average family of four spends about $26,000 each year for health insurance. Only around half is used for the family. The rest is taken in taxes to pay for government-run care for other people. In short, government -- not the market -- is the reason for the current health care prices.

It won't get better with universal health care. As P J O'Rourke said, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free."

Families need choices. They barely have any now and surely won't under a universal health care scheme. They should have the ability to make decisions regarding their own health care without government's incessant meddling. -- Matt Hittle

Story Comments

mike from ptld. wrote on Jan 2, 2008 3:59 PM:

" How can France and England pay half what we pay,cover everyone and have better health stats? Single payer,cheaper and accessible! They are in better health and do not have 50 million uninsured!Competition does not equal either cheaper rates or better health. "

Cecil wrote on Jan 1, 2008 10:05 PM:

" Hopefully competition will lower health care costs. It doesn't seem to be lowering the cost of anything else though. "

Jessup wrote on Jan 1, 2008 7:10 PM:

" hwat we need to do is get rid of the Health Insurance Companies and start up Health Maintenance Savings accounts. "

Dick wrote on Dec 28, 2007 8:08 PM:

" To Someone: You are absolutely right. When the insurance companies started deciding when patients were ready to leave the hospital instead of the doctors, that's where it all began to go wrong. "

Tried To Get Prices wrote on Dec 28, 2007 2:40 PM:

" Mr. Hittle, have you tried to get prices from hospitals or doctors' offices. First, they make you feel cheap if you ask about prices, they they give you the runaround as if it is an inconvenience imposed on them.
Finally, they won't give you an exact price but a range, and everytime the price has been the uppermost part of the range. Have your Republican friends impose duty on the health profession to publish their prices in a public place as all other businesses must do. "