Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMercenary
Even the process of regulation would be a nightmare.
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I know, I'm just trying to imagine a third, less evil option than the two evils that are always debated.
If the current system is said to be greed-driven, and a socialized system is foreseen as being operationally hamstrung, then maybe we could keep the operational structure of our current system but remove some of the profit motive. I know, that takes us out of the free-market, may-the-best-man-win arena, but in this case it's a response to the observation that maybe medicine
shouldn't be treated like any other for-profit consumer product. And, in response to the observation that the government can't manage a business effectively (we all know to ship by UPS or Fed Ex, not the post office) we let the business continue to be handled by people who do business. The better players will adapt to the new rules, and rise to the top.
On a detailed level, I have no idea how you would accomplish this. But I know that there are problems with the current system that lead people to discuss the possibility of socialized medicine. And I know that there is strong, well-founded resistance to socialized medicine. Maybe, my thought is, there could be some kind of hybrid system. Let business do what it does, and the government do what it does.
There is precedent for the government "interfering" with business, for the common good. This would be a case where I think we could apply that.