Why Is Healthcare Good In The United States

Healthcare as a market good in the US is complex because yes healthcare is treated as an economic good in the general sense but also healthcare can be seen as a social good in the US. The US healthcare system is a mixture of a market and social system, this mix makes the US healthcare system very unique when compared to other nations. The treatment of healthcare as a market good is relatively consistent among public and private healthcare sectors because individuals can still choose if they want to have healthcare or not. In the public sector, even if a person is eligible for healthcare the individual can still decide not to obtain insurance if they do not want it. In the private healthcare sector individuals still have a choice on whether to buy into healthcare

Proponents of consumer driven care have argued that “The promise of greater consumer control over their dollars, greater choice of providers, personalized decision support, and the potential to stem Americans' propensity for more care without anonymous parties assessing its costs and benefits…” is an appealing aspect to consider; however, the opposition have a “fear of adverse risk selection and disproportionately greater out-of-pocket costs for those who are sicker or poorer.” (Gauthier and Clancy, 2004) These aspects bring about benefits and limitations of healthcare as a market or social good. A benefit for healthcare as a market good is that “access to medical care can be seen as a reward for personal achievement.” (Shi & Singh 2015:65) A limitation of this is that it may been seen as way to leave people out of care if they don’t achieve a standard to obtain care. A benefit is also that the production of healthcare is “determined by how much consumer are willing to pay at current market prices…” (Shi & Singh 2015:65) however, a drawback of this is individuals serve their best interest neglecting the needs of