Health care was a free market until the following events:
1. requirement for government licenses for doctors, which was done to drive Jewish and Black doctors out of business, and to restrict the supply of doctors
2. the advent of employer-provided health care during WW2, which due to tax policy married health care coverage to one's job
3. the 1962 FDA amendments which required efficacy for drug approval (not just safety) leading to a tripling of drug costs and a corresponding drop in new drug development
4. the introduction of Medicare/Medicaid in 1968
5. ever more regulation and interference in the market, like requirements the emergency rooms treat for free
Regardless of whether one thinks these are good things or not, they detract from health care being a free market.
Health care was a free market until the following events:
1. requirement for government licenses for doctors, which was done to drive Jewish and Black doctors out of business, and to restrict the supply of doctors
2. the advent of employer-provided health care during WW2, which due to tax policy married health care coverage to one's job
3. the 1962 FDA amendments which required efficacy for drug approval (not just safety) leading to a tripling of drug costs and a corresponding drop in new drug development
4. the introduction of Medicare/Medicaid in 1968
5. ever more regulation and interference in the market, like requirements the emergency rooms treat for free
Regardless of whether one thinks these are good things or not, they detract from health care being a free market.