COMPETITION IN HEALTHCARE

Competition in Healthcare



Competition in Healthcare

Choice and competition work in health care ", but" most of us are not lucky enough to have access to a market made for them, "Robert Moffit, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. For example, under the "consumer-driven" Benefits Program Federal Employees Health, members can choose from 284 private health plans across the country, and her cousins on average increased by only 1.8% this year, Moffit writes. In addition, under the prescription drug benefit for Medicare, beneficiaries can choose from a number of private health plans to provide coverage, and "intense competition between plans "has reduced drug costs for beneficiaries, he writes. However, most U.S. residents"Never been near a competitive health systems" because employers in most cases offer some health plans or just a plan, according to Moffit. In response, he writes, some lawmakers have "come up with innovative ideas to introduce competition into the health system." Sens. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) have introduced the Tax Equity and Access Act, which would provide tax credits to help individuals and families buy health insurance, Moffit writes, adding tax credits "would allow them to buy health plans of their choice." In addition, Sen. Jim DeMint (RS.C.) and Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) have introduced the Health Care Choice Act, which would allow U.S. residentsto purchase health insurance in any state, regardless of their place of residence, to establish a "national market," Moffit writes. "Once again, today, only federal workers and retirees have something like a national market for health insurance," he writes, adding: "After the November election, perhaps the Congress take seriously and make good Common million Americans over the special interests of a few, who fear a truly free market in health care "

With the goal of reducing health costs and still produce quality health care, the United States have increasingly adopted strategies that focus on market competition. In theory, competition is committed to maximizing social welfare to achieve efficient delivery of health care to the socially optimal combination of price and quality. The success of competitive strategies, however, depends on the extent to which insurers, hospitals, physicians and other participants in the health care system and dimensions compete in this competition takes place (Gaynor and Vogt, 2000; Luft, Robinson, Garnick, et al 1986., Enthoven and Kronick 1989a, 1989b). In some cases, conditions for competition in price and quality occur naturally. In other cases, considerable resources have been devoted to the evolution of market institutions and policies that seek to achieve or improve the conditions of competition among participants in the health system.

The confidence in the competence and the use of policy interventions to reinforce what has led to numerous efforts to evaluate the potential of competition and related policies influence outcomes and health spending. Studies of these issues are, as a group powerful. Some studies try to determine if health care markets with fewer competitors have higher ...