“As Economy Slows, So Do Laser Eye Surgeries”
Filed Under Uncategorized
This article discusses how laser eye surgeries are slowing alongside a slowing economy. Lasik surgery is not generally covered by health insurance. Thus, people have to pay out of their pockets. Because spending on these types of items are paid out of the pockets of consumers, this small corner of the healthcare world does not experience the 11% or more yearly increase in costs that the rest of the healthcare industry does which is covered by health insurance.
Healthcare prices would rise at the same rate as do food, clothing, furniture, and other normal prices were it not for:
1) Our third-party payer system where someone else pays your bills. (Since it’s largely “free” you consume as much healthcare as you want since you do not pay for most of it. Employers pay most of your healthcare costs. They thus pay you a lower salary each year (in real terms) to cover the costs of your increased spending. Your insurance company charges them (or you, if you pay out of pocket) more each year for your insurance because you go to the doctor as much as you want. Your insatiable demand allows them to keep raising prices)
2) The reduction in supply caused by the American Medical Association’s government-granted monopoly. (The AMA intentionally restricts the supply of medical licenses, doctors, and medical schools in the name of “safety” in order to earn themselves higher salaries)
3) The massive amount of demand created by government spending. (Socialist redistribution programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, The Veterans Health Administration, Prescription Drug Programs, TRICARE, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and many others constitute dramatic artificial demand for services way above and beyond the quantity demand that would otherwise be the case if people paid for healthcare out of pocket)
Were it not for these factors, which all originate from government intervention and law, healthcare would be just another good at comparable prices to other goods.
This is the result of what you voted for!
Supporting material/additional reading:
http://www.mises.org/article.aspx?Id=1547
http://www.mises.org/story/1588
http://www.mises.org/story/898
http://www.mises.org/story/1749
http://www.mises.org/econsense/ch20.asp
http://blog.mises.org/archives/005499.asp
Kel Kelly @ April 23, 2008
When someone is poking around in my body with a knife and other sharp objects, I really want that person to have certain minimum qualifications, which should be of the highest caliber!
Brian: and why wouldn’t they be of the higherst caliber? If a doctor was no good, they would not have customers and would go out of business. Competition causes quality to be of the highest standards in competititve markets. Are your TV and shoes of good quality? No one restricts supply there to improve quality. And those doctors who would not be quite as good, would have to charge less. They would be lower cost doctors, just as we have McDonalds as lower cost hamburgers (but still good quality!). This way, the poor would have access to medical services too, instead of dying because they don’t!
Also, do you not hear horrible stories about doctors making mistakes (including leaving tools inside patients after sewing them up)now, even with the insurance of “quality”? Competition could insure just as much quality as the AMA can. The alternative is skyrocketing costs and the inability to afford medical services. That would mean the more people die.
Just because *anyone* is qualified to write a blog about economics doesn’t make *anyone’s* economics blog any good. Even if *anyone’s* economics blog becomes popular and makes money (ie - the market says its *good*), the likelihood of someone dying due to the reading, writing or advertising of *anyone’s* economics blog is extremely low.
An unqualified doctor, on the other hand - a person you trust quite literally with your life - can kill you. And yes, after one death or malpractice event, the unqualified doctor will likely get the boot from his practice, lose his malpractice insurance, etc. and it would be difficult but not impossible for him to continue to practice medicine. An unscrupulous unqualified doctor would probably continue to practice medicine despite being shunned and sued.
So its nice to say that the market would take care of everything, but we need high standards for certain professions to prevent needless deaths and to maintain a professional trust between the public and said professions.
We need certain laws and standards to reduce the chance of getting ripped off or killed by shysters and believe me, if you think the number of shysters out there is high now, imagine what it would be without penalty for shysteristic behavior.
Then I have an idea. Why don’t we let individuals decide what’s best for them. Don’t force them by law and with the threat of pysical force to accept your view. Give them the choice. We can even have “AMA approved and licensed” doctors, and those that are not, and people can go to the very highest qualified doctors (with that designation) if they choose. But allow anyone who wants to hang a shingle and call him self a doctor to do so. What you say?: people are too dumb and pathetic to be able to decide for themselves and make safe decisions on their own behalf, and we should have the goverment decide for them? Then why should we trust the government officials these stupid and ignorant people voted for to protect us?