The Myth of Free-Market Healthcare - Kel Kelly - Mises Daily

The Myth of Free-Market Healthcare - Kel Kelly - Mises Daily: "the American Medical Association (AMA) has had a government-granted monopoly on the healthcare system for over 100 years. It has intentionally restricted the number of doctors allowed to practice medicine so as to raise physician incomes artificially. The primary way it does this is by using the coercive power of the state to restrict the number of approved medical schools in operation."

"Since that time, the US population has increased by 284 percent, while the number of medical schools has declined by 26 percent"

"Just as a Saturn Astra or a used Ford Escort delivers a valuable service to many, so would a B or even a C doctor, particularly for non-life-threatening issues. There are many of us who would pay, say, $30 to visit a C-grade doctor for a cold, versus $100 to visit an A-grade doctor."

"When medical care is free, people consume more of it. The costs would continually rise, as they currently do in the United States. Because national governments have limited budgets, governments with socialized medicine impose cost controls and limit spending to a particular amount. But because nothing limits individuals from going to the doctor, waiting lines grow longer and longer."

"if licensing is so important in order to guarantee competent and qualified service providers, shouldn't we, in the same vein, require all politicians to go through years of training in the areas of philosophy, history, economics (including free-market economics), industrial production, accounting, and management before they are permitted to pass laws that affect the economy and our lives? Shouldn't they be licensed?"