Firstly, insurance would only be one option once markets had been freed. Charitable organisations could provide treatment for those unable to afford insurance. Indeed many of Britain's most famous hospitals were founded as charitable/religious institutions in the pre-NHS era, often with money donated by generous philanthropists. Moreover, in the late 19th century a large proportion of the population obtained health cover through mutual organisations such as friendly societies. Numerous options would emerge if voluntary solutions were no longer crowded out by coercive state provision.
Secondly, I don't accept the arguments about the limitations of health insurance. Insurers can lay off risk using reinsurance markets. And there is no good reason why elderly people can't be insured - for example through long-term plans that smooth out premiums over time. Equity release schemes could also be used to fund healthcare premiums for the many asset-rich but cash-poor pensioners.
Finally, it's important to point out that funding problems in general would be diminished by the deregulation advocated in the article. Entrepreneurship and innovation would increase productivity in the health sector, making treatment more affordable.
*facepalm*
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This was the article that me and My Black Cat thought was a joke but when we posted a comment to that effect, were ignored and when we followed the subsequent conversation we realised it was no joke.
This influential think tank appear to favour the idea of returning healthcare to the mechanisms used in the 19th century.
Most of us nowadays have experience of insurance of some kind or another and know how fickle it can be. Why would healthcare insurance be different?
The bit that irritated me most was the proposed reliance on charity. I suspect the author has no idea of how the poor used to feel about charity before the NHS. Pride dictated that charity was to be avoided and for many doing without was a better option. Care had to be taken even handing down children's clothes. It was OK within the family but passing them on to neighbours might cause offence. The poor kept their visits to pawn shops secret, they lived in terror of entering the poorhouses or being buried in paupers graves.
Perhaps it's all different now. Perhaps we all, rich and poor, love the idea of getting something for nothing and are happy to rely on the benevolence of charity when the insurance markets let us down.
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