Blackadder's Catholic Free Market Approach to Healthcare

Kudos to M. Z. Forrest for allowing Vox Nova commenter Blackadder to present his thoughtful analysis regarding free market solutions to health care industry problems. Contrary to some of the recent squawkings that Hillary Clinton's health care proposal is somehow "catholic", he points out that there is a lot more respect for subsidiarity and the common good in market solutions than in single-payer systems. Here's a teaser, but read the whole thing, it's quick:

By taking over functions that used to belong to the family, church, and voluntary associations, the state has broken down the authority and power of these mediating institutions between the state and the individual. The result is that people increasingly are unrooted, isolated, and socially adrift. Many of these institutions have become frayed and particular affections and loyalties have broken down, leaving people isolated and dependent on the state for protection (ironically, people who oppose this are often called “radical individualists”). State intervention outsources charity and replaces real social solidarity with the fiction that sending tax dollars to Washington bureaucrats (or, rather, being in favor of others sending their tax money to Washington bureaucrats) is somehow charitable. People who believe it is the government’s responsibility to care for the poor are less likely to give to charity or volunteer their time, regardless of how much the government is actually spending on fighting poverty (let alone how effective that spending is). This is, I think, not a coincidence.

But if single payer is not the answer, does this mean that we just have to live with the problems of the current system? Not necessarily. There are a number of ways that our healthcare system might be improved that don’t involve a government take over....

Then he goes on to actually provide suggestions of how to improve the current system. Imagine that. These all read like a breath of fresh air to me because it meshes with my experience exactly. When I was 25 years old I had full coverage which I hardly needed. Would have been nice to have that wasted money instead, slap it into a savings account or stimulate the economy of the beer industry, whatever.

Now as a self-employed individual I have a "creative" plan for my growing family which I had to wrest from the insurance rep using a technique I affectionately call "psychological waterboarding", i.e., threatening to go elsewhere. I could even get a cheaper plan if I could threaten to buy an insurance plan out of state, say, South Dakota or Nebraska. He might even have to sell his yacht at that point. I don't think they do the yacht thing in those there parts.

Like the gallows, competition doth greatly focus the mind of these insurance galloots, even if you don't enjoy threatening business people as much as I do. Nothing personal, I got a wife and kids, buddy. It be a Catholic thing -- noam sane?