Agreed. But I also think that the government should buy some of those organs at market value (Edit: they could negotiate for better prices like any other large buyer, but not force any supplier to sell), to be distributed according to the current system. (But then, I’m for socialized medicine in general, since it appears to be more efficient: countries with socialized medicine achieving better outcomes at lower costs.)
How would that work? You have an option to either buy a kidney or wait in line and hope for the best? If your insurance doesn’t cover kidneys, you wait for a government one?
I think it would be a lot better if the government finds the people that likely would end up waiting in line (like the people on medicare or medicaid) and just buy them organs immediately. Either that or just buy them for everyone.
The organ market is legal in Iran, and there are indeed enough for everyone, including some people from other countries who came there just for the organs.
At least, for kidneys and stuff. I’m not even sure if you’re allowed to sell stuff like your heart when you die there. From what I understand, even if you mandated everyone give away their heart, there still wouldn’t be enough since it’s rarely an option. In those cases, I suspect there will still be a significant increase. Also, it makes it so that people have more of an incentive to work hard so that they can afford health insurance that will pay for those organs. If you’re going to have inequality anyway, you might as well take advantage of it.
Agreed. But I also think that the government should buy some of those organs at market value (Edit: they could negotiate for better prices like any other large buyer, but not force any supplier to sell), to be distributed according to the current system. (But then, I’m for socialized medicine in general, since it appears to be more efficient: countries with socialized medicine achieving better outcomes at lower costs.)
How would that work? You have an option to either buy a kidney or wait in line and hope for the best? If your insurance doesn’t cover kidneys, you wait for a government one?
I think it would be a lot better if the government finds the people that likely would end up waiting in line (like the people on medicare or medicaid) and just buy them organs immediately. Either that or just buy them for everyone.
How much do you expect markets to increase the supply of organs? You seem to be assuming there’ll be enough for everyone.
The organ market is legal in Iran, and there are indeed enough for everyone, including some people from other countries who came there just for the organs.
At least, for kidneys and stuff. I’m not even sure if you’re allowed to sell stuff like your heart when you die there. From what I understand, even if you mandated everyone give away their heart, there still wouldn’t be enough since it’s rarely an option. In those cases, I suspect there will still be a significant increase. Also, it makes it so that people have more of an incentive to work hard so that they can afford health insurance that will pay for those organs. If you’re going to have inequality anyway, you might as well take advantage of it.