“On further reflection, the fact that health insurance is too expensive for the poor is actually an important argument for deregulation of the health industry in order to bring costs down.  For starters, there are many regulations on the books that specify what health insurance companies have to cover - mental health being the most notorious.  In a free market, insurance companies could offer more restrictive policies that the poor might actually be able to afford.  More importantly, though, health insurance is expensive because regulation sharply raises the cost of health care itself.  Medical licensing regulations, for example, sharply raise the cost of medical labor.  Economists like Milton Friedman have been arguing for decades that mere certification, or even reputation, could give you the same protection at much lower cost.  And while you probably want an M.D. to do your brain surgery, licensed physicians are over-qualified for much, if not most, of the work they do - as you might have noticed if you ever saw a dermatologist for acne.” — Bryan Caplan, economist responding to the question of free market healthcare