There are a lot of good arguments against government run healthcare. Central planners lack the knowledge to run any sector of the economy with the same efficiency as the market, and their interference inevitably brings unintended consequences like shortages. But there are other reasons to be concerned about growing the government’s role in healthcare, as we see with this story:
It would drive up the price of your barbecue but a global “meat tax” could save 220,000 lives and cut health care bills by $41 billion each year, according to a new study.
…A team of researchers led by Dr. Marco Springmann, from the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford University, estimated the rate of tax that would be necessary to offset health care costs related to red meat consumption.
“The least intrusive form of regulation is a tax to raise prices and reduce consumption,” Springmann told CNN.
Researchers concluded that the UK government should introduce a tax of 79% on processed meat such as bacon, and 14% on unprocessed meat such as steak.
In the US these numbers would be 163% and 34% respectively. “The tax is higher in the US due to an inefficient health system that wastes a lot of money,” said Springmann.
Nevermind for a moment the fact that any politician introducing a 163% tax on bacon would be committing political suicide, or that the cited figures are based on dubious methodology. There’s no limit to the number of other foods and activities that implicate our health. And that’s precisely the problem with making individual health a collective responsibility.
So much of our health is determined by the choices we make. A government invested in preserving our health in order to save funds is thus heavily motivated to find ways to manipulate if not outright control those choices. So while government run health care is bad for the health care system, it’s even worse for our liberty.
