jm91

from post #13 -- On the demand side you don't choose to consume health care (ie no one chooses to get sick) What the medical community will say is that, due to the litigious nature of the USA and malpractice suits that are settled regardless of the merits of the case, and the resulting high-cost of medical malpractice insurance, many tests and procedures that may be marginally necessary are performed so that no one -- particularly lawyers -- can claim that there was any malfeasance... This is what the mdical community points to as a large component of the high cost of health care in the USA.

...which may (or may not) be true but kinda distracts from getting doctors themselves to control costs, which when you think about it, is the main issue.When you think about it, doctors are Monopolists. Monopolists charge prices that would otherwise be found in a 'free market'.

Sorry, but your reply is loaded with misinformation, disinformation and propaganda.Independent doctors are no more a monopoly than any other profession. Medical school is no more a barrier to entry than a state PE license to be a Professional Engineer, or a state contracting license to be an electrician, plumber, general contractor or any other skilled trade. Calling doctors monopololists is sheer nonsense.There are more than 100 doctors of every possible profession within a 10 mile radius of where I live. They are no more a monopoly than any other professional or skilled trade person in the same radius.On the other hand, government-run healthcare is a monopology. If the government mandates that patients must see a government doctor or that no doctor may practice medicine unless they do so as part the government program, well that is a monopoly. It is no different than what the government and unions like the NEA have done to the public education system in places like the US.The malpractice points that the other poster makes are quite valid. I have a close relative who is a retired pediatrician, who treated tens of thousands of patients over a 40-year career with nary a threat of malpractice. Yet in his final years, his annual malpractice premium was hundreds of thousands of dollars. That is just wrong, and that is a big part of the problem.The biggest parts of the problem are primarily two-fold. The first is self-preventative care. Many people have crappy diets, do not exercise, and do very little to maintain the physical and mental health of their bodies.The second is the misconception that health insurance should be some all-encompassing coverage for every last little scratch, hiccup and wet fart. Any reputable insurance business has historically always been based on major or catastrophic coverage. People don't get insurance for tuneups and oil changes for their car. So why should they get insurance for an annual checkup or diagnosis and treatment of a minor illness?Government mandated "health insurance" that is required to cover every last little malady, isn't insurance at all. At best, it is "crony capitalism" between corrupt government agencies and corrupt businesses. At worst, it is just plain welfare, government theft of one individual's property to hand out to another individual for the sole purpose of seeking political favor.Cutting through all the other stuff, you make a closing statement that the AMA is essentially a doctor's union. This is pure steer manure. First of all, most reputable doctors have been running far and fast away from AMA membership for decades. Wikipedia claims that fewer than 20% of US doctors are AMA members. And why are reputable doctors running far and fast from the AMA? Because the AMA has been thoroughly corrupted by those who desire a government monopoly over healthcare.

God there is so many errors in your posts...go back to your Hayek books.. He was in favor of national healthcare....right wing wing nuts have his ideas all wrong...oh you conservative....libertarians...so I'll in formed.

I posted this in the Chiang Mai section but it will not hurt to post again.

My mother used to make this dish, she would nuke velveeta cheese with salsa and we would then put it in hard shell taco shells and then put corn chips on top. Put some sour cream on top of the corn chips. Just as good as taco bell.