Because there is so much emotion attached to healthcare, it can be hard to see that it is, by and large, just like any other part of the economy. But healthcare, under a setup like the U.K.’s, is virtually the only part of the economy where someone can go out and get nearly any service they need and pay close to zero, whether the actual cost of the procedure is $100 or $100,000. What’s wrong with that? When people don’t pay the true cost of something, they tend to consume it inefficiently.

