I am a Politician

I am also a math scientist in a statistics related field.

So I have a unique perspective upon the whole.

I have a pre-prepared statement I have created to help those who think Socialized Health Care is good, know the alternatives, and why others may support those alternatives. Please read with an open mind, and I promise in return to try to return here and reply to questions and comments and keep an open mind as well.

First it is important to establish the different venues I will be describing and discussing. These are Hospitals, Pharmacies (separate of Pharmaceuticals), eye glasses, and Dentists.

If you see an inaccuracy please say so, I invite people to find things that are wrong.

Pharmacies

Pharmacies were born in old times by those who would sell tonics, salves, and other items they thought helped with ailments. Some were snake oil salesmen (A term now associated with a con-artist) , some were the herbalists of their day, and some were learned persons seeking their aspect of health and care for others.

This grew until there was an established 'genre' of stores dedicated entirely to, or partially to, medicines (real or imagined). In the early days of the Industrial Age this included Morphine, Cocaine, and other 'hard' drugs. The industry was unregulated in the extreme. Anyone could make drugs, anyone could market drugs, and anyone could buy drugs.

Then the Federal Government of the United States set up regulations about drugs, classified many immediately, and set up a system for pharmaceuticals to make medicines, and for Pharmacies to issue medicines. This is a broad view of the changes of course.

The result was that there was a period of time where less people were qualified to give medicines for a while, and where those that could train others were not in large enough numbers. This lead to prices of medicines to be much higher than they were from the Pharmacies due to lack of supply of the pharmacists.

Over the years it was established at Hospitals there were Pharmacies, and that there were certain drug stores with their own Pharmacists. Prices were still fairly high, but in general everyone could be guaranteed some sort of access to medicines if they could get to one of these and if they had a prescription.

Then the supply of teachers increased enough, and because they were lured by the then very high pay, a stream of new Pharmacists came out in droves. This created a supply side issue. The result was the first pharmacies in super market stores. I know not if it was an Albertsons, Krogers, Safeway, or other store that started this, but I do know the results.

Initially this lead to a substantial increase to access to the medicine. You could be ill enough that you did not wish to drive to a hospital for your medicine, but the store was nearby and you needed something there anyways... Then prices started dropping.

The supply of teachers escalated, especially with private colleges offering courses in targeted venues. This dramatically increased the number of stores with Pharmacies. With the increase came the most powerful dynamic ever. Competition.

Competition lead to prices being dropped. A $20 generic was then $15, then $10, then $5, and now in many places $4. The prices of a generic in production are after all very cheap, and the amount of medicines we use is being increased dramatically, and the transportation costs are very low as well. Competition due to customers being able to choose where to go caused prices to plummet.

Pharmacies are in my mind, one of the ultimate examples of a Free Market that has regulations that do not hinder business in a negative manner.

Eye Glasses
I need to say that I have 20/10 vision, so I do not wear glasses. However my ex-wife did, and when I was a kid I suffered an eye injury and had to wear glasses for a few weeks. That said I watch, I listen, I observe.

What have I seen with my eyes? Binyons, and other big eye glass stores. When I got my care as a child we went to a clinic next to a hospital. This building was the only one for a good distance if I remember correct (I was in 6th grade then) and pre-dated my first observation of an eye glass store.

What is clear though is that over time eye glasses went from having to be ordered from a manufacturing place, to being made at the store itself. It went from bottle bottom thick glasses for some, to refractive lenses capable of providing sight with a much thinner lense.

It lead to, in Oregon at least, a Store in every mall, which makes them easy to find... and with prices that kept dropping steadily downward.

Glasses used to require people with advanced degrees peering into your eyes for a long time to determine flaws. Their accuracy was not so great by the complaints friends and family had back then of their glasses.

Now your in and out in less time than some take in a bathroom.

Glasses have some practical requirements, education and such, but I have not seen any regulations on them except where they might be issued via prescription. Therefore I call it a great example of a free market ideal without regulations.

Dentists
Dentistry has come a long way since I was a kid. Gold and Silver used to cap teeth, now we have other materials, and they can be made to match the color of your (hope they are clean) teeth.

There is even a way to grow back partially broken teeth that I read about last year. I have lost track of the progress of that innovation, but watch for it in the coming years.

Dentistry has come far enough that x-ray imaging of our mouths is common place. New tools do not even need to use the 'original' X-ray but instead can use a form of Cat-Scan to examine your teeth. The devices have shrunk in size, and tools and training have grown more capable.

And braces... Ok I admit I have a braces fetish, I like a gal with braces, I do not know why... but besides that... They used to be so clunky, and awkward to use. I remember my sister using rubber-bands so often as well for the proper tightening of her teeth in place. They were a steel of some sort as well I think.

Modern braces though.... They can be plastics, they can be metals, they can be a synthetic of different sorts. They can be made smaller than they used to be, and they can be hidden behind the teeth for those worried about their image (or for those with a need to have them back there due to tooth placement)

More and more dentist offices are opening, and options on where to go increase.

This also has resulted in a price drop on the services. While this drop has been offset with some regulations mandating certain aspects of dentistry, in general the effect has been more access for less cost.

Why at my last dentist visit the poor girl had issues aiming the X-Ray camera correctly at the tooth I had an issue with, so I aimed it for her while she monitored the screen. When devices are that easy to use, there should only be monitoring of how much a person has been 'scanned' by them for radiation purposes, and no longer a license requirement for general usage. But this is neither here nor there enough to bother right now.

What the point is, is that the Free Market has allowed for more dentist offices to be opened by anyone with the required degree and licenses. They can get the equipment needed and open anywhere.

This is an example of a free market mechanism with some interfering regulations.

Hospitals
Hospitals are to me, the epitome example of Socialism in health care. I will describe why I feel this.

Hospitals get their money from two major sources (not withstanding co-pays and those who pay themselves, which does NOT add up to a significant enough amount for most hospitals). These two sources are Insurance Companies and various Government sources.

A hospital is very tightly regulated, with many requirements upon them to treat all people in danger of their life (And I agree that saving lives is NECESSARY, do not read me wrong here), to keep certain staff in ER rooms, to do this, to do that. We all should realize they are regulated very strongly.

They are also not so numerous. There are enough that access is usually available, but you may need to drive a bit to reach one (I myself am 4 miles from the nearest, 6 miles from the next nearest, and so forth).

I am going to admit I do not know the full history of hospitals. I however also do not think it is worth worrying about in this context.

What I do know is that opening a hospital is hard. Generally they require certain sizes to get started. Then they also seek other significant requirements on top of this. Then you have different hospitals for different insurance companies. Kaiser, Good Samaritan, Emanuel, Blue Cross, Blue Shield... Many different requirements may exist on where you can go, and not go.

And I know their prices keep rising. Faster than Inflation even.

Now I wont go into Tort Reform here, it is not needed in the context I am writing upon. What I am writing about is Free Market principles.

Hospitals violate the free market. They are a Socialist design. If a free market was allowed.... Then hospitals with 500 beds would cease to exist, and hospitals with 50 beds would exist everywhere. With the increase in technology it would be easy to use a 'bed finder' in a smaller hospital for seriously injured persons for an ambulance. With a free market with not so much regulation, emergency beds could also double as other beds if there is no current need.

In a free market you would drive 2 miles to get to one of several small hospitals instead of many more miles to a larger one.

In short, by trying to make hospitals with regulations designed to help everyone, and to fund the fewer hospitals, we are escalating prices in my view, instead of letting the free market make innovation required.

In a free market with less regulation, the newer X-Ray devices, which are not harmful to a person, could be trained to anyone with a couple of days training most. And those persons could be a nurse, a paramedic, a doctor, or anyone on the staff... Not just a specific person who has no other applicable duties there.

Waste would be reduced, including wasted man hours, and productivity would be up. Access to doctors would increase, and prices with competition would go down.

Part of the problem is how hospitals get their funding. If a consumer were allowed to choose where to go, and told what amount they could spend on what per a year, they would make choices based upon free market principles, including value, location, and service. This alone would cause some overpriced hospitals to drop their prices to entice people back after they lose out in a big way.

Changing our insurance system to one where the consumer makes more choices than the insurance companies/Government makes would be a big game changer.

By the way I am a Conservative, but I feel that a 'form' of Socialism, where all have equal opportunity (not equal outcomes), equal access to everything most could dream of, and more, is possible under a free market system. In a free market system (which the United States does not approach yet, though we are the closest), the poorest can afford what is now expensive stuff, and the value of life for all is increased.