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A couple of articles from the Ludwig von Mises Institute that you might find interesting:
100 Years of Medical Robbery:
In the days of its founding [the American Medical Association] was much more open--at its conferences and in its publications--about its real goal: building a government-enforced monopoly for the purpose of dramatically increasing physician incomes. It eventually succeeded, becoming the most formidable labor union on the face of the earth.
Real Medical Freedom:
Economic constraints, like the force of gravity, always return. The question is, in what form? Free-market forces which are the source of the highest standard of living on the planet, or government budget constraints? The latter has not only hurt the quality of care in Canada but, in the end, failed to control costs. Says Canada's Fraser Institute, "Canadian taxpayers are paying for a world-class health care system, while getting service that ranges from mediocre to terrible. Even a decent performance in Canada is an unimpressive performance overall."
Enforced single-provider regulation and oversight is always a bad thing - freedom to compete and real consumer choice are the only recipe for better service and better products in any given industry. As US politicians shift ever closer towards socialized medicine, research investment will decline and quality of service will fall off.
Research matters to you and I. It matters greatly, and here is why: The level of investment in appropriate medical research determines the speed with which cures for age-related conditions and life-extending therapies can be developed and brought to market. Private investment - 60-70% of all medical research funding - is only deployed where profits can be made. Regulation makes it harder for new businesses to profit, as existing companies buy protection through government-enforced cartels, monopolies and imposition of large costs for new businesses. It's no coincidence that most of the world's medical research occurs in the least regulated regions, where there is at least some freedom to compete and innovate.
The length of your life and your future health depends on the medical research taking place today. This research is in turn greatly impacted by freedom or the absence thereof.
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Posted by Reason
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