Is Socialized Medicine Inevitable?

Kenneth Rogoff seems to think the answer may be yes.

Rogoff's theory is that as health care evolves from a privilege to a right, more people will demand more expensive care as part of that right. So, for example, hip replacements become not a miraculous advance in medicine, but a normal surgery most Americans expect as they age.

As new technologies are developed, the costs of those technologies skyrocket. Yet Americans expect to receive the most up-to-date medicines and procedures available, without any thought to the costs of those things. And, believe me, with the health insurance problems my family faces, I can see why socialized medicine looks more attractive.