Has Regulation Cut Costs or Cut Competition? Research Paper Example

While regulation of healthcare is generally favored, it is important to understand that it has led to the elimination of competition which allows healthcare costs to rise. Since most healthcare practitioners charge similar prices for their services, patients choose their healthcare providers primarily due to their talent and reputation, rather than their affordability. Interestingly, critics of healthcare regulation claim that there are more costs involved in this process than what we see on the surface. Articles such as “Health Care Regulation: A $169 Billion Hidden Tax” suggest that healthcare regulation costs a large sum of money to enforce (Conover, 2004).

Although regulation of healthcare is unable to cut costs, it ensures that the care that patients all over the country receive are relatively equal. Since all doctors are held to similar standards, regulation ensures that physicians are staying up-to-date on new procedures and encourages them to invest in new and high tech medical equipment. They are pressured to do this because if they don’t, there is nothing stopping their patients from finding a doctor who can provide these better services for approximately the same out of pocket cost.

In “Legislating Low Prices: Cutting Costs or Care?”, the author suggests that imposing price controls will ultimately lead to failure (Pope, 2013). Whether or not this is the case currently, it is important to consider how cutting costs will impact us in the future. Soon, many individuals will be able to subscribe to Obamacare, which further defines healthcare regulation. Doctors may be expected to provide services at lower costs, which means that they may not provide service comparable to that provided in the past. It is expensive to keep up with healthcare trends, and it is important that we ensure that healthcare professionals have the ability to do this regardless of governmental regulations.

References

Conover CJ. (2004). Health Care Regulation: A $169 Billion Hidden Tax. Retrieved from             http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/health-care-regulation-$169-billion-hidden-tax

Pope C. (2013). Legislating Low Prices: Cutting Costs or Care?”,The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/08/legislating-low-prices-cutting-costs-or-care