On the front page today, Liz Monteiro has a headline that tells us: “More than 150 no-shows each day at local COVID testing sites”. She says that: “More than 150 people booking COVID-19 tests aren’t showing up for their appointments because they are double booking and taking the slot that gets them in the earliest.” As if this is somehow a shocking surprise. But strangely enough, she has stumbled on the main reason our health care system is bankrupt – both morally and fiscally. When a good has a value greater than $0 and is offered at no cost, then normal people will consume as much of that good as possible. So, when testing is “free” and there is no monetary consequence for booking and not showing up, it is in normal people’s best interest to continue to book at multiple sites. The is just basic economics. People (in this case, every government employee who setup this program) are stupid. I blame our education system.
That’s all I got today. See ya tomorrow…