Against Three Arguments for a Free Market in Healthcare

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dc.contributor.advisorDick, David
dc.contributor.authorTumasz-Jordan, Elena
dc.contributor.committeememberLevey, Ann
dc.contributor.committeememberFantl, Jeremy
dc.date2018-06
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-24T21:21:59Z
dc.date.available2018-04-24T21:21:59Z
dc.date.issued2018-04-23
dc.description.abstractHealthcare is not like other commodities. Central features of healthcare undermine the benefits of a free market. A free market in healthcare fails to exhibit the same virtues as markets in other goods and services. Proponents of free markets in healthcare often argue for their position based on efficiency, moral hazard, and innovation. I will address these arguments in turn to show that each one relies on unstable assumptions and unstated definitions. According to the first argument, competitive free markets are efficient, so a free market in healthcare would be efficient; I demonstrate that free markets in healthcare are not competitive and thus do not promote efficiency. The second arguments states that in a healthcare free market, patients must pay for medical services, so will not use more healthcare than they need; I point out that on a medical definition of “appropriate use of healthcare,” a free market fails to solve the problem of overuse and may introduce a problem of underuse. The third argument asserts that through competitive pressure and profit-based motivations, free markets foster innovation; I will argue that the on a free market, companies can only generate profitable innovations, which may leave research deficiencies in crucial areas of healthcare. The way in which healthcare is distributed impacts the lives of the people who must access medical services: ostensibly everyone at some time or another. This project seeks to carefully examine and question the assumptions that underlie arguments in favor of a free market in healthcare in the hopes that a considered, informed debate can shape a better healthcare system.en_US
dc.identifier.citationTumasz-Jordan, E. (2018). Against Three Arguments for a Free Market in Healthcare (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/31821en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/31821
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/106535
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyArts
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectHealthcare
dc.subjectFree Market
dc.subjectPhilosophy
dc.subjectEconomics
dc.subject.classificationPhilosophyen_US
dc.subject.classificationEconomicsen_US
dc.subject.classificationPublic Healthen_US
dc.titleAgainst Three Arguments for a Free Market in Healthcare
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplinePhilosophy
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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