Monday, September 20, 2004
Leave experimentation to the market
[Editorial, "Health care due attention," The Wichita Eagle, 20 September 2004.]
Today's editorial in The Eagle seems to imply that doing something is better than nothing at all in health care. When it comes to government initiatives, though, this is rarely the case. Certainly, there is plenty of reform necessary to improve the health care system, but for the most part, this should involve removing barriers to market forces, not adding additional layers of bureaucracy.
The market is able to try new approaches and move on to others should they not pan out. For a variety of reasons, this is much less likely in the public sector. There, if something does not appear to be working the typical response is to devote still further resources in the hopes that more will equal more, whereas diminishing returns is the rule.
The governor should be commended for acknowledging the existence of a problem, and if she comes up with a workable plan to combat it, then further commendation is in order. The last thing politicians need is more reasons to "do something" without fully weighing the consequences.
[Editorial, "Health care due attention," The Wichita Eagle, 20 September 2004.]
Today's editorial in The Eagle seems to imply that doing something is better than nothing at all in health care. When it comes to government initiatives, though, this is rarely the case. Certainly, there is plenty of reform necessary to improve the health care system, but for the most part, this should involve removing barriers to market forces, not adding additional layers of bureaucracy.
The market is able to try new approaches and move on to others should they not pan out. For a variety of reasons, this is much less likely in the public sector. There, if something does not appear to be working the typical response is to devote still further resources in the hopes that more will equal more, whereas diminishing returns is the rule.
The governor should be commended for acknowledging the existence of a problem, and if she comes up with a workable plan to combat it, then further commendation is in order. The last thing politicians need is more reasons to "do something" without fully weighing the consequences.
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