You spend money most wisely and frugally when (1- most wisely; 4-least wisely):
1) You are spending your money on yourself. (i.e., you pay the doctor directly for medical services.)
2) You are spending your money on someone else. (i.e., you donate money to a Catholic hospital).
3) You are spending someone else's money on yourself. (i.e., your health insurance claim)
4) You are spending someone else's money on someone else. (i.e., you vote for higher taxes for healthcare coverage for the poor).
The more dollars that fall into the lower categories, the more money is wasted.
Our current healthcare system is a mixture of all four categories.
Universal healthcare falls entirely into the fourth category.
To improve our healthcare system while offering the possibility of obtaining healthcare to as many people as reasonably possible, more healthcare dollars should be allocated to the higher categories.
A program that would improve our current situation would include:
-- Offer catastrophic-coverage-only health insurance plans (some money moved out of category #3).
-- Medical IRA's. Money is set aside for personal medical spending but could grow in a discrete fund. This gives people an incentive to spend their healthcare dollars wisely. (money is moved into category #1)
Makes sense to me. Friedman is the smartest man alive.