The Myth Of Free Health Care

Health care is another activity in which governments around the world are involved, to varying degrees. In some countries, the government is in the business of providing health care, and in some other countries, the government does not provide health care but provides health insurance. It is not obvious why the government should be in the health care business or health insurance business. After all, when I consult a doctor, receive treatment and medicine, or undergo a heart bypass surgery, I am the one who benefits and the only one who benefits. In that sense, the health care business is no different from the automobile business or the perfume business or the laptop business. One argument for government intervention in health care is that a society where everybody is healthy benefits all members of society, for example by preventing an epidemic of contagious diseases. Therefore, the government should provide health care to all, or so the argument goes. It is a lame argument…