[jorgis]

Because the people who "get something for nothing" already do so today, and you already pay those costs. People check themselves into the ER with injuries and infections that have progressed to the point where they are life-threatening because the injured and sick could not afford to see a doctor at the time they received the injury.

The reason they can go to the ER is because the ER has to treat you if your case is life-threatening. They then proceed to not pay the resulting bill, get taken to collections, and file for bankruptcy, which has the effect of giving them free medical treatment.

Only it wasn't free preventative care, or a free doctor's visit. It was a free visit to the ER and free inpatient treatment. Guess which is more expensive, a doctor's visit or a visit to the ER?

Given that you, the person with money, end up footing the bill either way, would you prefer the less expensive or the more expensive option?

[jasonisalive]

In a fully private medical system people would bear the consequences of failure to invest wisely in medical goods and services (i.e. prevent worse health problems with cheap early treatment.) There would be the strongest incentives possible (your own wallet, not society's) for making the right decision. Sounds fine to me.

[Spooky23]

You are reaping the rewards of this now.

When you go to the ER without insurance, you get patched up and kicked out ASAP. This creates other complications... People can't work, they seek out social services, etc. So you have a situation where a chronic condition that you could manage for $4,000 a year costs exponentially more when you price in food stamps, disability payments, temporary assistance payments and other programs.

[gress]

Sounds fine if you want the sick and dying decaying in the streets because they didn't have access to good education.