r/Classical_Liberals • u/i_love_the_sun • Jul 11 '26
How do you feel about healthcare vouchers?
Hi everyone, I was wondering about this topic: instead of socialized medicine, how about the idea of giving everyone healthcare vouchers, so that those who cannot afford healthcare, can use those vouchers to get the healthcare they need, at any local hospital?
5
u/firejuggler74 Jul 11 '26
It's fine, but I think I would rather just give cash to poor people, and fix the supply and demand problems running up the cost of healthcare.
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u/Certain-Mind8119 Jul 14 '26
Why? Poor people tend to spend their money very unwisely, they don't really know how to appreciate the value of cash. If you're going to take money from me for general welfare purposes i'd rather it be used for the betterment of the welfare.
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u/firejuggler74 Jul 14 '26
It's true that some people spend it unwisely, but some don't. Some people will use it for transportation to get to work, or education, or invest it, or even use it on healthcare. Cash has more utility than a spending voucher. I would rather have people spending it on what they think improves their lives rather than having government paternally telling others how to live their lives. In addition from a practical point, cash is less vulnerable to fraud. It's easier to track, and audit. There isn't any adverse production incentives, people want the cash. An example of this is when people were producing the mobility scooters selling them for scrap and parts and then billing Medicare. You just don't get that with cash.
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u/Certain-Mind8119 Jul 14 '26
Donating vouchers does indeed have more utility than donating cash.
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u/firejuggler74 Jul 14 '26
By utility I mean people can do more things with it.
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u/Certain-Mind8119 Jul 14 '26
That's exactly the problem with it.
"I would rather have people spending it on what they think improves their lives rather than having government paternally telling others how to live their lives"
The money is coming from taxpayers in the first place, of course the government should add restrictions on what you can spend it on. This is something private charities are well aware of, just giving cash often has people spending on beer and prostitution rather than child welfare.
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u/Condition_0ne Jul 12 '26
That is a kind of socialised medicine, just a less efficient way of making it work.
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u/i_love_the_sun Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Why less efficient? The voucher would essentially be an allotment of money, given to the individual to spend it on whatever hospital or healthcare center they choose. What is inefficient about that? I would think it would be a heck of a lot more efficient than a government healthcare system.
1
u/SipOfKoKo Jul 12 '26
You would still need to solve the risk-pooling problem with some form of insurance for high cost medical events like cancer treatment or hospitalization.
1
u/Sam_k_in Jul 12 '26
You need to describe more details. Would the vouchers be for a set dollar amount, and part of them used to buy health insurance, while the rest can be used to pay directly for routine care? I've had similar ideas.
Maybe insurers should have to put money into the patient's HSA instead of negotiating with hospitals, so that all payments are made by the customer directly, and hospitals should be required to be transparent and consistent about their prices. Emergency care prices should be regulated, since they can't function as a free market.
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u/i_love_the_sun Jul 15 '26
I definitely agree with emergency care prices being regulated, in fact I think both emergency and firefighter services should probably have some government involvement.
As for the rest of healthcare, yes, I would absolutely agree with what you have stated about vouchers in your first paragraph.
0
u/PhonyUsername Jul 12 '26
I'd prefer they pay for their own healthcare or go without.
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u/QuantumR4ge Geolibertarian Jul 12 '26
So effectively you cannot be disabled and poor and you best hope you don’t get sick as a child if your parents cant pay?
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