Our survey of national health insurance in countries around the world provides convincing evidence that government control of health care usually makes citizens worse off. When health care is made free at the point of consumption, rationing by waiting is inevitable. Government control of the health care system makes the rationing problem worse as governments attempt to limit access to modern medical technology. Under government management, both efficiency and quality of patient care steadily deteriorate.
The lesson from other countries is that America would not be well-served by an expansion of government bureaucracy or by greater governmental control over the U.S. health care system. Instead, what is needed is to limit the role of government and allow the private sector to solve our health care problems.
(Editor's Note: Forthcoming studies and commentaries from The Mackinac Center for Public Policy will take up where this report leaves off and suggest numerous public policy reforms to solve the health care crisis – in Michigan and across America – by invigorating the private sector.)