Economic Freedom & Free Health Care
Economic freedom is the situation where by the property of individuals that has been acquired legally is protected by government or the authorities from any kind of invasions by any individuals. The owners of this kind of property are free to utilize, exchange or give out their property so long as whatever they do does not infringe on the same rights that belong to other individuals. Economic freedom measures the extent to which the legally obtained property is protected and that citizens are involved in transactions that are voluntary. It helps in carrying out economic activities freely in harmony with the aim of achieving greater economic performance and growth. Economic freedom is a concept that is being embraced widely in the world today. From the internal federal or devolved units of an economy to inter economic interactions, the concept of economic freedom is being used. It helps enhance prosperity, in addition to this; it is also an important condition in the development of democracy.
One reason why economic freedom is an important concept is that it helps in making the citizens independent of the government. In any planned economy, the people will take advantage of the economic freedom to make both political and economic decisions. Since the individuals have the freedom to do business with each other freely as long as it is legal, individuals will want to try and accumulate their own wealth. People will work hard to accumulate wealth hence reducing their dependency on the government. They will only be depending on the government for protection of their wealth.
Economic freedom also enhances regional integration among different economies. For example the European countries are integrated by the economic integration of the European Union. The free trade between these economies helps in enhancing economic growth as well as political stability within member countries. This is why economic freedom is being used all over the world today.
Free health care
The demand side of the health care is the patients who demand medical attention while the supply side is the health care centers like hospitals and pharmacies. Health care can only be provided freely through the government using the above mentioned reasons. When provision of health care services is free, the government will cater for all costs of the provision of health care. This will include buying medicines, payment of personnel like doctors and nurses. In such a case where medication is free, the demand for health services is very high. The market equilibrium for the health care will be at the point where the supply curve meets the demand curve. Usually, the demand for health care is inelastic, meaning that any increase in the prices of health care will have no effect on the demand for health.
The free provision of health services will make demand for health services to exceed supply. The supply resources such as medicines and doctors will be in short supply. Therefore, the government should decide what kind of services to provide and in what quantity. The provision of health care is dependent on the population size, the amount of health care needed as well as the cost of the health care services.
When health care services are free, the prices/costs will be homogeneous. A change is the supply of health care results from the shortage of doctors and medical equipment. It is rare to have a surplus supply of health care in a situation where the services are being provided for free. Usually, good allocation and service delivery is guided by the law, insurance contracts, market competition and the service provision facilities. The regulator and legislator is the government.
Gwartney, J. D., Stroup, R. L., Sobel, R. S., & MacPherson, D. (2008). Economics: Private and Public Choice (12, illustrated ed.). London: Cengage Learning.
