Hi Martin. No, I realize that, say, in Britain, one can choose one’s own doctor if one is willing to pay for it. That’s who anyone of means in Britain has private health insurance on top of being taxed to pay for the NHS.

But I am not against government supported medicine. I just don’t want it at the US Federal level, because the US Federal government is hopelessly dysfunctional, and everything they do ends up being bureaucratic and horrible. They would run a NHS like they run the IRS: long lines, big central facilities with poor customer service, and terrible mismanagement.

At the State level, okay — because then if one state does a poor job, one can move to the next state. We have 50 of them; but we have only one Federal government, so there is no escaping it.

Also, I think the root causes of medical costs are not in whether the government provides it. The root causes have to do with the kinds of research that are incentivized. Currently, there is no ROI in cures, so none are pursued. Health care needs to be entirely non-profit, with all research funded through non-profit entities or entities that have a mission of science. Drug companies are our enemies. They are legalized pushers. And our Federal government does everything it can to enable and empower them.