Despite a growing and aging population, no new for-profit medical school has been constructed in the United States since the early 1900s. In 1980, the Department of Health and Human Services survey predicted a huge surplus of doctors by 2000. State governments stopped building new medical schools, and almost all 126 medical colleges cut back enrollment, and medical graduates declined. The American Medical Association just reported an increase in first-year medical school enrollees for 2006 -- the first increase in decades . The U.S. still has only 126 M.D.-granting medical schools, but some experts predict we need at least 90 more to meet the doctor shortage predicted for 2020.
How many people also don't know that laws prohibit interstate health insurance sales, preventing people in state A from getting medical insurance from a company in state B? According to The Wall Street Journal in 2005, "eHealthInsurance compared the cost of a standard family insurance policy ($2,000 deductible with a 20 percent co-insurance) across that nation. (A) non-employer-based family policy for four in Kansas City, Missouri, costs about $170 per month, while similar coverage in Boston tops more than $750 a month." Why? Most states mandate the type of services that must be covered -- podiatrists, acupuncturists, massage therapists, etc. -- whether the patient wants it included or not.
Some states force insurers to sell to all applicants at the same price, regardless of their age or health. The result? "Faced with higher premiums for insurance they seldom use, the young and healthy drop their coverage, leaving an insurance pool of older, sicker people -- and even higher premiums. After a decade of such political meddling, the average monthly cost of a family policy in New Jersey bests the monthly lease of a Ferrari."
"Finally," I said to my friends' son, "people with little money still manage to afford cars. And people with little money can, if government set the market free, afford health care coverage. It won't be the type a resident in Beverly Hills gets, but there would be some bare-bones type of coverage if only government got out of the way.
"Now," I said, "can I have another glass of orange juice?"