Stop and think, Sarah.
Sarah Palin Calls Free Markets Evil by Health Care Statements: Can You Say "Irony"
"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." http://www.facebook.com/...
Those were the words of the (fortunately) currently unemployed former Governor of the Great State of Alaska, America’s largest national park. While quitting her job is not helping the nation’s unemployment crisis, Palin hopes to help in the area of health care. Her special brand of help is to prevent the government from essentially extending Medicare to all Americans because "government health care will not reduce the cost" of health care services (Ibid.).
From my understanding of the new health care legislation would create a national account which all Americans can essentially access in order to compensate providers for medical services rendered. This would not preclude the use of private providers. The Australian system of health services possesses a Medicare program for all Australians to use, though there are also private providers and medical institutions which haven’t completely eroded in the face of a government program; however most Australians do choose to use public sector insurance to pay their medical costs (http://www.medhunters.com/articles/healthcareInAustralia.html). While I cannot say for certain that a government-sponsored health program will reduce costs, it is interesting that the Australians pay a smaller percentage of their GDP for medical service than do Americans—8.5% compared to 13.7% (Ibid.).
But there are some very interesting implications to what Mrs. Palin, our nation’s most eminent private citizen, has said. She said she does not want an individual’s capacity to receive health care to be contingent upon their "level of productivity." However in a free market society with a private health care system that is exactly what occurs. In such a system, an individual’s ability to pay for health care is based solely on their endowments. In other words their ability to access health services is directly contingent upon their ability to generate enough claims on economic resources through either supplying labor or capital to some participants in some market for remuneration in a form acceptable to medical service providers. If they cannot make enough money or to use Mrs. Palin’s terminology if their "level of productivity in society" is insufficient, then they cannot pay for and thus cannot receive medical services which they may (desperately) need and which they may be said to be "worthy of" (certainly by the friends and family who love and care about them) .
People can be said to have to "stand in front of" the market in order for the market to decide if they are worthy to receive some amount of wealth which is a necessary condition for them to receive health care. In that way the free market is analogous to Obama’s hypothetical "death panel." Yet Mrs. Palin has said
I am a conservative Republican, a firm believer in free market capitalism. A free market system allows all parties to compete, which ensures the best and most competitive project emerges, and ensures a fair, democratic process. (http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Sarah_Palin_Budget_+_Economy.htm)
I would suggest to Mrs. Palin that it would be wise to take a closer look at the implications of what she is saying.
Technical Note: for some reason I could not put the initial quote in blockquote.