Universal Health Care

One of my favorite topics, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about the real problem with health care, which is the standard problem of the "dismal science," that of the mismatch between wants and needs and available resources.

Resources are limited. Period. There are only a few ways to deal with this.

1) Money, i.e., the Market. Those who are willing to pay for particular resources get the resources. Problem is that it is not the final consumer of health care, i.e., the individual person, who determines what health care he consumes.

2) Expert opinion. Doctors and public health professionals could specify which individuals or groups most need the resources. Like triage.

3) First come first serve.

Thomas Sowell gets it right when he says the big question is who gets to make the decisions about how resources are allocated. (Wrong about abstract markets, however).

The question as I see it is what kind of country do I want to live in. I want to live in one which has Universal Health Care Access.