It would be nice if we could wave a bureaucratic magic wand to make problems go away. It would be even nicer if the antidote to the health care crisis was strengthening the freedom of choice that the market affords and if this actually led to greater equality. Unfortunately, freedom and equality are a bit like oil and vinegar; they don’t mix especially well.

I know that I am not old enough to remember Hillary Clinton’s campaign to reform the health care system. But the video below brings back some characters familiar to many of you.

Harry and Louise fought to hold on to the health care system in 1993. Fifteen years later, those same characters lament their short-sightedness. Do we want to be in Harry and Louise’s shoes 15 years from now? The current system is on a collision course for failure; it is just a matter of when.

Growth in health care costs consistently outpace the rate of inflation, yet consumers have little to show for the money spent. Health insurance companies continue to find technicalities and other superficial reasons to deny care to consumers who pay the high premiums. People are being left behind with little or no coverage. God forbid you have a preexisting condition, especially a chronic one. The safety net for children’s health and safety has almost disappeared. With the current administration’s implicit blessing for increased privatization, doctors are dropping off the Medicare rolls. Even supposedly non-for-profit health systems are wolves in sheep’s clothing, often driving up the costs of care.

While individuals fare progressive worse under the private health care system, pharmaceutical companies have never been better. For all the supposed motivation the free market give them to engage in research and development, it appears that plastering their logos from here to Timbuktu is more of a financial priority. When you consider the human cost of these lopsided priorities (high drug costs, overprescription, and decreased medical research in the private sector), you have to wonder why people are fighting so hard to keep privatized health care. Who do you think the consumer will want to clean up the mess?