Actually it’s a little different than that — the system is failing because the healthcare “market” is ill-suited for a capitalist model. Capitalism works best when the time between the purchase of a good or service and the time when the purchaser can evaluate the quality of the good or service is short. Shoes are a good example, you choose them, wear them, and evaluate whether or not you like them. The market will tend to favor shoe companies who please their customers the most.
Now consider health insurance. You choose health insurance and pay for 10 or 15 years before getting cancer. Your provider refuses payment or just kicks you off because you once had acne. Now you won’t choose that provider again, but guess what — NO ONE ELSE WILL INSURE YOU because you have cancer. So you die and the insurance company still has your money.
This illustrates another problem with the healthcare “market”. Not everyone is allowed in. In the shoe market, anyone with money may purchase shoes. But in the healthcare market you can be denied entry through no fault of your own (and please spare us the stories of how everyone with cancer eats bad food or lives an unhealthy lifestyle).
Will this ever change in the US? I doubt it. People are going to have to get used to just not having healthcare and not being surprised when their insurance kicks them off or refuses to pay for treatment. That’s just the way it is here.
