There never can be a free market in health care

I submitted the following comment to David Brooks “The Trump Elite. Like the Old Elite, but Worse”, New York Times, 2014-03-24, http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/opinion/the-trump-elite-like-the-old-elite-but-worse.html?comments#permid=21912241. (Warning, my comment is buried among several others.)

There never can be a "free market" in health care.  Sure the sellers are free to leave the market, but few of the buyers are free to leave the market.

Let's hope it doesn't happen to you, but suppose you are in a car crash on a rural road.  First responders find you unconscious and decide to send you to a big city hospital rather than the nearest small town hospital.  Depending on the severity of your injuries, they call an ambulance (very expensive) or a helicopter (really expensive).  Oh yes, there is no free market in either because there are not many sellers of either, not many being only one.

There can be a free market in insurance providers, but how free a market is there when only five or six providers in your market?

Hang up and drive!

A few minutes ago my wife was driving on a through street when a car started across the intersection in front of us.  I gave a loud YEOW envisioning us broadsiding the other car.  My wife had applied the brakes and stopped before crossing the path of the other vehicle.  That driver had also seen us and had stopped before crossing our path.

Thump! thump! go our hearts still.

But think about some of the other scenarios.  Suppose the through-street driver had been on a cell phone.  Would that driver have reacted in time?  Suppose the cross-street driver had been on a cell phone.  Would that driver have reacted in time?  What if the through-street driver had been speeding?  That driver would not have reacted in time, especially if that driver had been on a cell phone.

This is a good example of how much attention is needed to drive safely.  A cell phone requires too much of that attention.  Hang up and drive!