Awww! I'm so sorry this happened to you. I know. Can you believe this? It's the worst paper cut I've ever gotten. That looks pretty bad. Let's get you some treatments. Are you insane? I'm uninsured! We're here for him. Look at this paper cut. Ah! If only there was some way to make healthcare costs reasonable for people like me! Well, there isn't one simple solution to that problem. But you know what would help? Price signals. What are those? Hey, I know this one. Price signals help us figure out which goods and services are valuable to different people. Yep, we need accurate price signals to know how to allocate scarce resources most effectively. They tell us when supplies are too low or too high. When it's okay to consume more of something and when we should cut back and help conserve our resources. But in the US, patients almost never know what their healthcare is going to cost. Prices are often mandated or heavily influenced by the government and most people don't pay directly to begin with. So the price system is totally broken here. Exactly! How am I supposed to make a call on getting treatment when I have no idea what kind of bill I'm going to get stuck with? Meanwhile, Ron's hogging up the doctor's time and resources because ultimately he doesn't have to pay for it. Like most people, he'll bill his insurance company. And then they'll pay whatever they have to for Ron's visit without him ever knowing or caring too much about it. In the end, what ends up being paid has no real connection to the value of the service he's actually getting. And it doesn't account for the opportunity cost of the doctor's time. The only solution here is to connect people to costs. But that would just mean rich people getting treated first. Not necessarily. First of all, doctors are going to do their best to prioritize people with the most urgent medical needs. If those people agree to be treated. But real price signals will only make it easier to figure out what services are most urgently needed and by whom. Plus, they give providers an incentive to supply more of the services that are in the highest demand. Allowing more entrepreneurship and healthcare would give patients a much wider range of options over time. In other fields, experimental new technologies start out really expensive and less effective. And only a small minority can afford them. But market competition drives the costs down over time. And the technology improves as well. This is true for food, cars, clothes, and lots of other equally essential and complicated things. But it doesn't happen in healthcare. In part because of a broken pricing structure. But in the areas of healthcare where people are connected to prices like private clinics, dentistry, optometry, and others. We see technology improving in prices decreasing over time. But what about people who are in life threatening emergencies and don't have time to shop around? Are you saying they should just go bankrupt? Of course not. But most of the time when people interact with the healthcare system, it isn't for life threatening problems. And there's this weird around spot on my chest. Let's catch up, sir. Now, most people could be looking for the best deals. But that's not always possible, I know. And the long run, a free market is the best way to drive prices down and improve healthcare for everyone. But for poor people who need emergency treatment today, we can still transition to a free market approach while helping them afford the artificially inflated healthcare costs through private charity or even government-funded vouchers. Like we have with food stamps. Those didn't destroy the price system for food the way a state takeover of grocery stores would have. Or the way government control destroyed the pricing structure for healthcare. Yeah, I guess that would leave people the freedom to shop around and choose what healthcare providers were right for them while also helping people who can't afford it before the market drives the prices down. Exactly. Prices help producers know where their goods and services are most valued and they shape consumption behavior. Discoveraging waste and encouraging people to limit the resources they use. Even if people were only making their decisions based on price 80% of the time, it would be a huge improvement. That's fair. I guess we shouldn't make perfect the enemy of the good. If I can't get this elbow fixed, I'm going to amputate it myself. Ah! I can't take it anymore! I'm starting my own clinic! Thank you so much for watching. Please like, share and subscribe to the channel. Also, check out the links in the description because we bring the receipts and leave a comment below. We'll see you on the next wonderful, exhilarating episode of Common Sense Cellbox. Check it out.