Is Health Care a Public Good?
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An op-ed quoted on another blog:
The definition of a public good is something that is:
People who blather that "health care is a public good" are really saying that they want other people to pay for their health care. Which might be a legitimate public policy goal (I think not), but it has no basis whatsoever in the economics of public goods.
Health care is a public good, not just an industry, to be governed by the same economic principles that govern pure business. Value in health care can only be assessed by weighing cost and quality together. Quality health coverage not only improves care, it saves lives.My comment at that blog:
The definition of a public good is something that is:
(a) non-excludable, such as national defense, and"Health care" — whether a doctor, an ER, a flu shot or a tongue depressor — is, with hardly any exceptions, neither non-excludable nor non-rival and is therefore not a public good, any more than food, clothing or housing are "public goods."
(b) non-rival, such as a large park or movie theater
People who blather that "health care is a public good" are really saying that they want other people to pay for their health care. Which might be a legitimate public policy goal (I think not), but it has no basis whatsoever in the economics of public goods.
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Posted by Kip on
30 October 2006
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