People abuse free.  When there is no direct cost to an individual, the individual wants all he or she can get.  The result is rationing, lower quality provided, and higher costs.  Hawaii attempted a universal child health care plan and abandoned the program only after seven months.

“People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,” said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. “I don’t believe that was the intent of the program.”

This was on a very small scale limited to children.  Imagine the results nationwide covering everyone.  Proponents argue the system was working and should not be closed.

“We’re very disappointed in the state’s decision, and it came as a complete surprise to us,” said Jennifer Diesman, a spokeswoman for HMSA, the state’s largest health care provider. “We believe the program is working, and given Hawaii’s economic uncertainty, we don’t think now is the time to cut all funding for this kind of program.”

What Jennifer fails to realize is that programs of this nature are short lived because the money dries up fast.  If the program continued, the result would be a highly rationed, low quality service with a higher cost to the taxpayer.  Services stemming from a singular entity whether they are health care or phone service, will by naturally occurring market forces become low quality and inefficient.