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by mikeash 3669 days ago
This is what a true free-market health care system looks like.

I always wonder about this when I see people arguing against socialized medicine. Should accident victims be left to die like this? Any answer besides "yes" implies some sort of government intervention. In the US, since 1986, ERs must treat everyone. This basically gave us a really bizarre socialized medicine system with horribly inefficient funding and procedures.
1 comments
ars 3669 days ago
It used to be that charitable societies setup funds within hospitals to pay for such people.

If they were able to bill insurance, or the person, later, then the fund would be replenished.

So it is possible to say "yes" and not have government involved.

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shripadk 3669 days ago
That exists in India in the form of societies like Lions Club, Rotary Club etc. However, the number of hospitals that are supported by these charitable societies are understandably smaller in comparison to the number of private hospitals.
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mikeash 3669 days ago
So when we take a look at societies that actually do it this way, such as India today or the USA before 1986, why do we find hospitals dumping patients who can't pay?
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