The Art of the Impossible

Thomas Sowell has once again hit a home run with his latest column. He points out that if something is possible, people will find a way to do it. If it is impossible, we look to our politicians! One example he gives is in the area of health care:

The big political crusade today is for "affordable" medical care through the government. No one believes that government is just going to be more efficient, and thereby have lower costs that will be reflected in lower prices for medications and medical treatment.


It might seem as if adding the costs of government bureaucracies to the costs of medications and medical treatment would make it impossible for the total costs to go down. But again, the impossible is no problem in politics.


Many countries around the world already have government-run medical care. People who get sick in these countries usually wait much longer to get treatment, including months on waiting lists for surgery, often paying in pain or debilitation, rather than money.


High-tech medical devices like MRIs are also far less common in these countries than in the United States. With medical care as with anything else, you can always get poorer quality at a lower price, though that is no bargain, especially when you are sick.


What you may have in mind are lower prices with no reduction in quality. While that may be impossible, don't expect that fact to stop politicians from offering it, even if they can't deliver.

Update: "If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it is free." So said George Will in his latest column. Will points out that we may soon be facing major problems in the financing of both Medicare and Medicaid. Over the next two decades it is projected that the average American household's health care expenditures, including the taxes that pay for Medicare and Medicaid, will go from 23to 41% of average household income.