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If an elderly Canadian is vacationing in Florida and falls and breaks her hip, which is very painful, the Canadian system of health care will not even reimburse the patient for surgery at the nearest hospital.  Instead, the patient must fly back to Canada in excruciating pain to be operated on by a government-controlled doctor there.

If an elderly Canadian is vacationing in Florida and falls and breaks her hip, which is very painful, the Canadian system of health care will not even reimburse the patient for surgery at the nearest hospital.  Instead, the patient must fly back to Canada in excruciating pain to be operated on by a government-controlled doctor there.

In the United States, under the free market, anyone can pay their own money for medical care at any time; there is an immediate care, cash-based doctors' office within a half-mile of our classroom.  But in Canada, someone with an illness is typically put on a waiting list and, depending on his age and likelihood of survival, may not see a doctor for months.  In some cases, patients pass away before they obtain the treatment they need.  The Canadian government sets limits on wages and prices, and that causes shortages because there is always less supply when the price is artificially lowered by a government control.  (Look again at the shape of the supply curve:  at lower P, there is lower Q).   

In the United States, under the free market, anyone can pay his own money for medical care at any time.  For example, there is an immediate care, cash-based doctors' office within a half-mile of our classroom.  But in Canada, someone with an illness is typically put on a waiting list and, depending on his age and likelihood of survival, may not see a doctor for months.  In some cases, patients pass away before they obtain the treatment they need.  The Canadian government sets limits on wages and prices, and that causes shortages because there is always less supply when the price is artificially lowered by government control.  (Look again at the shape of the supply curve:  at lower P, there is lower Q).   

Lowering the wages and prices prevents supply from rising to satisfy demand.  Then demand is much greater than supply, and patients have to wait a long time to see a doctor.  There is a lower survival rate from cancer in Canada than the United States because of the delays in diagnosis and treatment in Canada.  In Buffalo, which is on the Canadian border, doctors treat many Canadians who come over the border to receive American medical care now rather than wait for it in Canada.

Lowering the wages and prices prevents supply from rising to satisfy demand.  Then demand is much greater than supply, and patients have to wait a long time to see a doctor.  There is a lower survival rate from cancer in Canada than the United States because of the delays in diagnosis and treatment in Canada.  In Buffalo, which is on the Canadian border, doctors treat many Canadians who come over the border to pay for American medical care now rather than wait for it in Canada.

This limiting of supply by government-set pricing causes what is known as "rationing".  More people want the service (a medical operation or treatment) than is available.  A waiting list is created to handle the surplus in demand over supply.  But when someone has a cancer growing inside of him, delay by being placed on a waiting list can be agonizing and deadly.  Quick treatment helps improve survival from cancer.  In the United States, where government does not set prices and there is not any rationing yet, the survival rate for five common forms of cancer is over 90%.  Thanks to the powerful benefits of the free market, the rate of survival continues to improve in the United States.

This limiting of supply by government-set pricing causes what is known as "rationing".  More people want the service (a medical operation or treatment) than is available.  A waiting list is created to handle the surplus in demand over supply.  But when someone has a cancer growing inside of him, delay by being placed on a waiting list can be agonizing and deadly.  Quick treatment helps improve survival from cancer.  In the United States, where government does not set all prices and there is not any rationing yet, the survival rate for five common forms of cancer is over 90%.  Thanks to the powerful benefits of the free market, the rate of survival continues to improve in the United States.

But in Scotland, the birthplace of Adam Smith and his theory of the invisible hand in 1776, the survival rate from cancer under government-controlled medicine has fallen to "the worst in Europe, lagging behind countries such as Poland and Slovenia. ... Cancer experts blamed ... long waiting lists for the poor results."<ref>http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12923478.html</ref>

But in Scotland, the birthplace of Adam Smith and his theory of the invisible hand in 1776, the survival rate from cancer under government-controlled medicine has fallen to "the worst in Europe, lagging behind countries such as Poland and Slovenia. ... Cancer experts blamed ... long waiting lists for the poor results."<ref>http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12923478.html</ref>

A free market in health care benefits children too.  The life expectancy for a child born with cystic fibrosis in the United States is 37 years, but only 27 years in Ireland under its government-controlled (or nationalized) health care.

A free market in health care benefits children too.  The life expectancy for a child born with cystic fibrosis in the United States is 37 years, but only 27 years in Ireland under its government-controlled (or nationalized) health care.

Currently there is a massive national debate over the future of health care in America.  The Democratic proposal included a "public option," which would be a government-controlled health insurance program analogous to the Post Office.  In addition to the public option, the proposal would '''''require''''' everyone to purchase a government-approved insurance plan, even though it may not cover the medical services they want.  Certain government-defined health benefits, like abortion and even sex-change operations, may be included in that insurance plan despite people's objections.  Health care would probably be rationed, as in England, by government panels deciding who should receive it.

Currently there is a massive national debate over the future of health care in America.  The Democratic proposal includes a "public option," which would be a government-controlled health insurance program analogous to the Post Office.  In addition to the public option, the proposal would '''''require''''' everyone to purchase a government-approved insurance plan, even though it may not cover the medical services they want.  Certain government-defined health benefits, like abortion and even sex-change operations, may be included in that insurance plan despite people's objections.  Health care would probably be rationed, as in England, by government panels deciding who should receive it.

Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate in 2008, made this famous remark in the summer of 2009 about the plan:

Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate in 2008, made this famous remark in the summer of 2009 against the plan:

:The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell<ref>Thomas Sowell is a prominent African American economist who consistently supports free market solutions to health care and other problems.</ref> has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

:The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell<ref>Thomas Sowell is a prominent African American economist who consistently supports free market solutions to health care and other problems.</ref> has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.