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Legislators never answer the phone, but occasionally you can get through to the health care person in the office.
Two of the offices I contacted about the high price of health care said, " I have no idea why health care is so expensive and I have no idea how to fix that".
I then asked about the physician shortage and both offices told me that nobody wants to become a doctor anymore. There is too much schooling. There is too much training. The debts are too high.
I have no idea how a health care advocate in a legislative office can be this ignorant. Anyways, I looked up how many people want to be physicians. Last year there were over 48,000 applicants to medical school and only about 20k accepted. Sadly, not all those that graduate will practice because there are not enough internships to go around. You can see the data for each school here: https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstable1.pdf
Of course, there are millions of people that would willingly become a physician if the opportunity became available. The number of 48,000 represents the number of people that got stellar grades and thought they had a pretty good chance of getting in. There are countless thousands of others that would want to go to medical school if it was an option.
A lot of conservatives think we should just get rid of licensure completely. Like buying a car or anything else, you should buy something based on the reputation of the company.
This idea sounds scary to most people, but is the long training a gatekeeper of medicine or is it really to produce quality? Does passing a test in school 20 years ago mean that today you are a great doctor? Does 80 hours a week in residency make you super-competent?
Nearly all physicians hate the system of residency and feel taken advantage of. At one point, some students appealed president Busch and so he created a law that a physician resident couldn't appeal their wage or conditions. You can read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/us/antitrust-lawsuit-over-medical-residency-system-is-dismissed.html
Is it good to make someone get huge amounts of debt and then take advantage of them for several years? Do you think feeling abused leads to better care or worse care? I know one resident that was forced to work 72 hours straight. He wasn't too happy with the employer after that.
Monopolies are known for two things. They are inefficient and abusive. It isn't just about money. It carries over into the employees, employers, and patients hearts.