The Role of Free Enterprise

Ask most Americans about the economy and they will say that it is what makes America different from other countries. We have “free enterprise”. This unbounded freedom drives entrepreneurship and from that innovation. We have a steady flow of new goods and services.  We are a rich country because of that.

Since wealth can only be created by mining, growing, or manufacture, most Americas may not be taking into account the richness of the land that makes up the US, or the strategic advantage the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have provided. I think it is safe to say that while free enterprise has been important, other factors have played at least an equally important role.

Is there a role for Government? For example, should your City, State, or even Federal Government establish roads or sewers or harbors, or should these be left to “free enterprise”? In most cases, the answer (if not just the common practice) is that Government undertakes these projects on the behalf of the “commonwealth”. Government pools our money and spends it on projects that directly contribute to our well being and interestingly, facilitate other “free enterprise” activities.

So when it comes to health care, is there a role for Government?

Most of us think of health care as a “free enterprise” domain. Private insurance, private doctors, private hospitals, and of course, private drug companies. What’s wrong with this picture?

In one sense nothing is wrong, in another sense, everything.

If you have insurance or can afford to buy it (at any price), you can receive very good health care services in the US. We hear the cry that US medical care is the best in the world. Wrong. And even more dangerous, all the other industrialized countries have systems that deliver as good (and most better care), and all cost far less per capita. This is not some big mystery. Canada, Germany, France, Japan, and some 14 others all have life expectancies greater than the US. All these countries have health care where no resident is denied coverage for any reason.

So why are we being told that health insurance belongs exclusively to the free enterprise arena? Why are we being distracted with arguments that suggest our system will collapse if the Government offers a “public options” (expanded Medicare)? Why are private insurers dropping coverage everyday?

One of the unspoken justifications of free enterprise is that the service or products involved are continually changing to meet new and emerging needs, and do so in order to make profit. Do you think private insurers are offering Americans better coverage, or simply improving their profits? Do you think Americans are likely to overtake other countries in the world in life expectancy any time soon? Do you think that private insurance health care is likely to cost less, or ever match that of other modern industrialized countries?

I ask you, then, how can the public option be a misstep?

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Tags: free enterprise, health care cost, health insurance, Healthcare, healthcare reform, public option, single payer

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