We agree that you cannot possible have a health care system that satisfies any and all demands. Question becomes of how to distribute what resources we have. Conservatives tend to suggest for-profit model where middle man (insurance) and personal wealth determine distribution of such global resource. Progressives tend to suggest centralized system with equal access.

Considering that I see health care as a product/benefit of society, and not individuals or corporations, I strongly favor centralized redistribution system.

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Also, keep in mind that all of those treatments people are clamouring for were developed because some private firm spent millions of dollars.


Most of the time this is not the case, NIHresponsible for bulk of research and progress. The only exception is some limited pharma research to file patents on specific compounds, and that research is still heavily based on public domain knowledge.

Typically research is done in academia, where government grants make it possible, and if something major discovered generic process is published then researchers jump into "industry", file "manufacturing technique or efficiency gains" patents and start making money. This is fine, since it leads to progress, but none of it would be possible without initial public research grants.

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