It isn’t often remarked, but I think it’s worth noting just how little concern doctors today have for consent. I think this is a legitimate issue for libertarians to concern ourselves with. Here’s a hypothetical story. Suppose you’ve gone to a hospital and had your concerns addressed. You’re ready to go. The doctor refuses to release you, though, unless you agree to certain conditions, such as 24 hour nursing care. For how long? His response “I can’t predict the future course of your illness.” Now, the government has driven up the cost of healthcare so that you now rely on medicare, and medicare will not pay for the hospital stay unless you agree to these conditions. So you are threatened that you will lose all you have unless you agree to this condition - and you didn’t know this before going into the hospital in the first place.
Perhaps this is caused in part due to the tendency of people to sue doctors when things go awry and the proliferation of courts sympathetic to their complaints? Malpractice lawsuits are a major problem in the medical industry. Perhaps, if you’re privately insured, this could also be a tactic to get more $$. It’s terrifying how poorly public insurance compensates health professionals for their services. In principle though, I agree that you have every right to accept or decline a doctor’s advice and act accordingly.
I suppose this is exactly what I’m getting at - that the real problem is the institutions, not some mean ol’ doctors running around. Heck, looking at poor compensation, I’m sure we can go to the insurance companies and hear why they need to do it too - if it were just greed, competition would kick in.
Another thing caused by poor insurance compensation is the plight of the uninsured. The doctors have to charge me the same rate as the insured person - but his company pays 10%, so I’m billed 10x a reasonable price.