Making Health Care Markets Work: Competition Policy for Health Care

Many studies have examined trends toward increasing consolidation of physician practices and hospitals in the US health care system and the negative effects of decreased competition on the quality of patient care and health care costs. Despite general consensus among economists and health policy experts that competition enhances patient choice, improves quality, and reduces cost, few actionable policy recommendations have been offered beyond greater antitrust enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission. Here, Gaynor et al propose a new competition policy for health care that involves multiple federal agencies in addition to the antitrust enforcement agencies, state governments, and private stakeholders.