Hacker News Reader

There's a big difference here. Basically, anyone can grow food, while not many people can make their own antibiotics or CPAP machines in their backyards.

The reason your analogy breaks down is competition. Usually it's pretty easy to obtain food in some shape or form, so there are near endless alternatives if you face steep pricing. It's really quite difficult to be a competent doctor, so you've got limited alternatives. The magic you would need to apply is reducing the barrier to entry to medical competence somehow.

The magic is a balanced equation. Either the consumers and producers are both capitalists and strive to create the best value per dollar, or the profit has to be taken out of the equation with public healthcare, with the best value per tax dollar being dependent on the good will of the bureaucracy. Right now, we have an unbalanced equation where producers strive for the most profit and the least liability, and insured consumers have absolutely no reason to even pay attention to how much money their insurance company pays in exchange for treatment, the quality of which the consumer feels is almost totally out of their control.

Put the power, and the responsibility, back into the hands of patients who until now had no reason to care, and you will see a vast, rapid improvement in the state of healthcare.