The NHS continues to teach us important lessons. Once government bureaucracy gets hold of health care, the sky will be the limit—for their expenses. This is especially true when things go wrong, since the answer to problems with centralized systems is, well, more central controllers. And that is what has happened in the NHS. From the story:
Spending on NHS bureaucracy has risen by 50 per cent in just four years, according to “heartbreaking” government figures. The increases include a 43 per cent rise in the costs of managers, while spending on clerical staff rose by 78 per cent at Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), which decide how NHS funds should be used. Meanwhile, their expenditure on management consultants and temporary staff more than doubled. Patients’ groups accused the Government of wasting “ludicrous and heartbreaking” sums expanding an army of administrators while starving the frontline of resources.
Meanwhile, many NHS hospitals are filthy, women give birth in elevators, and rationing adversely impacts the sick, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
No, this wasn’t private insurance companies, but government controlled health care. I used to be for it, but I now realize that centralized planning just doesn’t work.
