In June, Speakfreely.today launched an essay contest on the question of “Do We Need Government to Protect Public Health?”. These were the winners awarded:
1st place: Can Capitalism Cure Healthcare from Government? – César Guarde-Paz
2nd place: The Unintended Consequences of Public Health Policy –
3rd place: The Cost of ‘Free’ Public Healthcare – Roberta Dombrovskytė
We have received numerous essays with varying content, and we are thankful to all the students who participated. We appreciate the research and commitment that all participants have invested into their submissions. Here are some excerpts from entries that were not awarded a prize, but that the SpeakFreely Editorial Team still found particularly relevant.
From Dónall Gaibheacháin:
“Probably the most divisive issue surrounding government involvement in public health today, however, is the resulting externalities caused as a result. As all UK taxpayers fund the NHS, they all should be able to benefit from it. However, many people’s objections to the long-term, expensive, and resource-draining medical needs caused by certain life-style choices and habits which strain the National Health has led to attempts to curb them. Individuals are no longer at liberty to make decisions that impact their, and only their, own health, as these externalities cause the burden to fall on us all.”
From Lucas Nunes:
“Regulations in order to protect the public or with the purpose to protect specific interests of certain groups that act through lobbyism will generate a market with fewer options, therefore, with a higher price (sometimes a price that, through regulations, will be a planned price, ignoring the demand and supply law).”
From Prashant Garg:
“It should be noted that “free” public health care is not free to the taxpayer. An important research by World Bank compared the per-patient cost in the two sectors and find it to be four times higher in the public sector.”
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