We are already subsidizing health care consumption massively as is.

Yes, and it is driving up the cost of health care the same way financial aid has, so dramatically, driven up the cost of college the last twenty years. The irony of government financial aid is that it drives up prices and makes it harder to afford the product or service. Then people become dependant on borrowing the money for those necessities. Are you ready to start taking out mortgages for your medical care? What will be the collateral? Your body?

The way to reduce medical costs is to get the government to stop inflating the industry with its free money.

Dunno where you live, but gov't is PART of my society.

Suppose I want to just put that money into some low risk, low yeild investment and keep it there in case of an emergency... who are you to tell me what to do with my own money?

Other than the obvious gross market distortions that come about from forcing everyone to buy something, what you are proposing is somewhere between the nanny state and tyranny. The "right to make any decision you like as long as it's the officially sponsored one" exists in every dictatorship in the world, and that's exactly what you're suggesting. The freedom to choose for one's self includes the freedom to choose poorly, if that's what the individual wants.

As a side note, when you try to mix government compulsion and private markets and hope for market forces to produce an efficient result, the attempt fails. Typically this is called market failure, when the blame should properly be allocated to government intervention in the market.

Where is health care $2000 per year?

Good gravey, I throw out a hypothetical number to illustrate a point and suddenly it is carved in stone. Get a grip and a clue EB.

Further, what kind of insurance are you buying, a policy that covers everything including split ends?

I’m no economist; please explain why a $2000/year subsidy won’t raise the price of health insurance by $2000.

We are already subsidizing health care consumption massively as is. What I'm suggesting is we look for a better (i.e. cheaper) way of doing it; one that will still incorporate some market incentives to keep costs low. Also, the problem isn't so much the current cost, although it is high, but the unsustainable growth rate.

EB, I can find individual private coverage for $40/month. But then, I’m a 23 year old nonsmoker in good health, and I shop for high deductable insurance (on the theory that I shouldn’t be paying to “insure” against things I can easily pay for out of pocket).

Bingo! We have a winner, somebody buy this man a lunch!

I know where we could find $5 billion a month to pay for it – the only hint is that the place is very sandy

I know another place, just scuttle Bush's drug give away program.

Let’s do the same thing with transportation! Everybody should be ask to buy a car and given $10,000 to buy one. So that basically we get market incentives and nobody is left without a transporation! And we should punish somebody if they refuse to buy a car!
Oh wait! You mean, some people might prefer to walk? Idiots! How dare they question my great wisdom?

Is the similarily between walk and self-insurance clear enough?

No, because society isn't always going to bail out those without a car, but we seem unable to resist the urge to help those who don't buy insurance. So long as society is going to do this, we might as well try to make it work as best it possibly can. Wishing for something you'll never be able to get is getting pretty close to insanity, IMO.

Is the similarily between walk and self-insurance clear enough?

Seriously though - people would rather spend their money on anything but health care when they know that big gov't is there to bail them out - if it were really enough to give folks $2k to invest for themselves then I would be all for it but I just don't think the government can ever solve a problem let alone the health care problem.

The gov't needs to get out of hte health care business except emergency aid.

Steve Verdon knows how to run your life, and the state should punish you if you disagree:I think a better approach [to health care policy] would be to give every person a fixed amount of money that can be used...

Looks like Steve Verdon and Mitt Romney think alike. All those damned irresponsible people who don't buy health insurance need to be dealt with: Believe it or not there are people out there who don't buy health insurance on purpose. I think w...