The Member of Parliament who raised the question has failed to grasp two important points. Firstly, although, from a theoretical vantage point, rights are universal, in practice rights are characterised by hierarchy. In Britain, the right to health care is of more practical value than the right to food. Secondly, because consumers are not sovereign, the health care market is susceptible to market failure. Although the existence of market failure and/or market inequalities is not in itself a reason for government intervention, the extent of the distortions and pervasive incentives that arise in health care renders government intervention in the funding and regulation of the health care market an economic
