People Are Not Rational

... they are rationalizing. Dig this tidbit from a tale of horror by Robert Samuelson. Re: the Massachusetts health care system as a preview of ObamaCare:

People have more access to treatment, though changes are small. In 2006, 87 percent of the non-elderly had a "usual source of care," presumably a doctor or clinic, note Long and Stockley in the journal Health Affairs. By 2009, that was 89.9 percent. In 2006, 70.9 percent received "preventive care"; in 2009, that was 77.7 percent. Out-of-pocket costs were less burdensome.

But much didn't change. Emergency rooms remain as crowded as ever; about a third of the non-elderly go at least once a year, and half their visits involve "non-emergency conditions."

What if the reason that people went to the emergency room had little to do with access to health care and a lot to do with a failure to plan ahead or take care of small health problems before they got worse? What if sitting around watching TV was chosen over calling your doctor and making an appointment for a physical?

What can you do to help people who make poor choices in their lives? In my case, not much. I had plenty of warnings before my major screw-ups and I did them anyway. What do you do when you discover that individuals aren't rational at all and their predicaments are largely of their own making?


Now that we have health care, this fellow will run to the doctor for a physical!