June 2, 2006 10:03AM # A Return-Quibble By [Arnold Kling](https://www.cato.org/people/arnold-kling) --- SHARE Two days ago, I [blogged that Americans spend too much for health care](https://www.cato.org/2006/05/31/crisis-of-abundance-watch/) as a result of the bizarre health care financing system that has been fostered by government regulation and tax provisions. [Michael Tanner](https://www.cato.org/people/tanner.html) subsequently [responded](https://www.cato.org/2006/06/01/a-quibble-with-kling/) that my claim makes little sense in a free society–Americans, who are wealthy, consume more health care because they simply prefer more health care and they have the money to buy it. Permit me a response to Michael’s response. I offer a lengthy counter [on my own blog](http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/06/my_rejoinder_to.html); here is an excerpt of my reply: > I think of the American health care system not as a free-market system, but as a government-designed contraption constructed to vacuum money out of the pockets of consumers and into the pockets of health-care providers. A lot of this contraption is built into state regulations of health insurance and provider licensing. The Federal government adds an important layer by encouraging “employer-provided health insurance” (i.e., vacuuming wages into prepaid health plans). > > > \[…\] > > > Our difference is tactical. Tanner wants to put libertarians on the side of saying, “The American health care system is the finest in the world. Don’t mess it up with a socialized system like everyone else’s.” > > > I think that tactic is vulnerable to charges that people in other countries are healthier, charges which very well may be true. I would rather be in the position of attacking our vacuum contraption than defending it. The debate continues… ##### Related Tags [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).