Obamacare written to deceive the public.

[Heywood]

I thought I already explained to you why this argument is invalid?

Okay, let's say I agree with you that healthcare resources are limited. This is true. Let's say here in Australia a politician decided that his or her policy was that we need 25% more nurses in our hospitals so that the nurse-to-patient ratio goes up. Well, we have a finite number of nurses, and every one of them who is able to work is employed. So where would we get more nurses from? It's just not possible. Right, we agree about that much.

Increased demand produces increased supply. So if there's a greater demand that goes beyond the capacity of the market, then healthcare supply will increase overtime. The other thing that will happen is that people with more necessary needs will be prioritised before those who have less crucial needs. In Australia this is called a "waiting list", and you go on the waiting list if your surgery needs are not directly life threatening. It might be very important to improve the quality of your life, but if you can live without the surgery then you'll wait. This is the primary reason why people do buy private health cover, so they don't have to wait if they have an injury or other medical problem that adversely affects their quality of life: they want it fixed now, not in 2-3 years.

So even if you're right that healthcare needs will exceed healthcare capacity, all it means is that the people who need the healthcare the most will be the first ones able to access it, and those with less essential needs can wait.

People who need liver transplants are put on waiting list too. Why? Because there are not enough livers to go around. The fact that you have waiting lists in Australia is indicates you are not producing enough health care to meet peoples needs.

When I talk to people about socialized health care this seems to be their biggest concern...that the government won't produce enough of it and there will be waiting list or rationing. This could be true....but it doesn't have to be true. There is no law of physics that prevents the government from producing enough health care to meet everyone's needs and wants. The government just needs the resources(and I believe the US government has those resources) and the will. Socialized medicine could not work in Somalia, but it could certainly work in the USA if the will is there.

Obamacare will lead to additional demand of healthcare...but not necessarily to an additional supply. Why? Because much of the prices for health care are set arbitrarily low by the state. Demand increases supply because demand bids up prices. High prices create an incentive to produce more. But with Obamacare demand won't bid up prices because many of the newly insured are on medicaid....which pays at an arbitrarily low rate.