Some believe that too much competition has been the catalyst for rising health care costs and inefficiency in the American health care market. I disagree. I believe that the U.S. insurance market actually suffers from too little competition.
Four years ago this week – August 28, 2005 to be precise – Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region, killing more than 1,800 people and causing more than $81 billion in damages. The devastating storm left the region’s public health and health care systems in shambles from which they are still trying to recover years later.
Health care should be consumer driven for reasons of both efficiency and ethics. When in possession of adequate information and faced with appropriate incentives, consumers make better choices for their own health than does any third party, regardless of whether that third party is motivated by the most worthy of intentions.
To be successful, healthcare reform must pay for extending coverage to the uninsured while credibly controlling future costs. Current proposals include a mandate for employers, a public insurance option, and tax increases on high-income households.
