A recent report from the Australian government argues that consumers are taking more responsibility for their health (HT Ellen Goddard). The evidence used to bolster this claim is the fact that Australians are spending more money on over-the-counter medicines that are not subsidized by the government.
That use of these unsubsidized "complementary" medicines is on the rise is apparently all the reason that is needed to now subsidize them.
“The growing contribution of complementary medicines needs to be seen by the government as the impetus for fostering the appropriate proactive policies and for recognising complementary medicines as vital part of a comprehensive Australian health care system.””
This seems to be another example where any government intervention in the name of "public health" is justifiable by definition because it is intended to improve public health. So, the logic seems to be: if people are voluntarily willing to spend more money on an item through the market, then this is evidence that the government needs "appropriate proactive policies" to help people buy the item.
It is a strange day when one sees the market working well at providing people what they want as evidence that more government intervention is necessary.