Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
James Poulos, Ed. ·
Jul 11, 2010 at 9:43am
Maybe, writes Dylan Matthews. Not a chance, writes Will Wilkinson:
What Hayek had in mind was a competitive market in risk-rated insurance and a competitive market in medical services. No price controls. Let the markets rip. Mandate a certain minimum level of insurance coverage. If you’re uninsurable or can’t afford a policy, then the state pitches in. I’m fairly certain that his idea was nowhere in the neighborhood of making Aetna a quasi-governmental mechanism for redistribution.
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Jul '10
Re: Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
Matthews' droning on about the comic book and the snip of one short paragraph that could, out of context, be construed as supportive of nationalization of an industry is the giveaway. Not convincing to anyone that has actually read Hayek.
Jun '10
Re: Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
There's no reason that health insurance can't be purchased like car insurance. I pick the provider, the coverage, the deductible, the auto body shop, everything. That's why it's reasonably priced. The more of those decisions you take out of the hands of the receiver of services, the more expensive it gets. I think Hayek would say that spending a third party's money--government's or the employer's--is a recipe for either waste, mediocrity, or both together, as ample evidence shows is true today for health insurance.
Jun '10
Re: Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
Agreed, e d, except that the risk exposure for auto insurers is limited somewhat by an ability to ultimately determine the value of the car. If the cost of repair is too high, destroy the car. Not exactly a policy I would reccommend for health insurance. The irony is that Obama's humanist leftists believe exactly that. Risk exposure for the government, in their world view. would be limited by placing a dollar value on human life, just like in the auto insurance business. My bet is that they don't believe rationing will ever effect themselves. They are, after all, the Elite. In their own minds, I would guess, they are too valuable to be rationed. Not so, you and me, however.
Jun '10
Re: Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
It's one thing for you (the patient) and your family to decide that the cost of that heart/lung transplant you need to live--live beyond another three months--is just too high, not worth it. That decision happens all the time. It's another thing for federal government policy to decide that you're too old, for example--one year over the age limit for the transplant. "Awww, too bad. Here's a list of hospices to choose from."
May '10
Re: Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
Can I get an amen?
May '10
Re: Would Hayek Support Obamacare?
There is no chance that Hayek would support ObamaCare, because the heart of ObamaCare is government control, not government funding. Hayek would be appalled at the breadth of mandates and in the one-size-fits-all approach. Hayek would be appalled that the government would require (say) annual prostate exams or coverage for birth-control. Hayek would be as scared as the rest of us at the very idea of the "death panels."
Hayek would likely support regulation of health insurance markets to protect consumers, and a subsidy high-deductible (i.e catastrophic care) insurance for the poor. That's about it as far as I can tell.