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An argument for retail health care by Michael Goodfellow, by way of Marginal Revolution. Following an overview of the factors that actually influence life expectancy, he writes:

There’s no reason to insure yourself against the ordinary expenses. We do that now, and just end up paying for it in premiums instead of retail, but with the extra costs of insurance paperwork. By paying for most care with insurance, we also get waits for appointments, and services/drugs denied by the insurance company or government program. There’s no retail competition by providers, since the customer is the insurance company, not you.

Goodfellow writes from the perspective of someone with lifelong health problems. The entire piece is worth a read.

His conclusion is gloomy — the leviathan creeps forward, slowly grinding down innovation. Given the fact that, for example, better cancer treatments will have little impact on average life expectancies, slumping innovation is unlikely to be particularly visible at the aggregate level.

UPDATE: Peering into the future a few years:

The reason you can’t be allowed to eat an egg is that, because of the lack of real choice in healthcare provision, you’re no longer responsible for the financial consequences of your own actions. If you get heart disease from too much cholesterol, the State, collectively known as the NHS, will have to treat you; and that costs the State more and more money so the State will have to stop you from doing it in the first place.

(Via Instapundit)

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