Health Care Competition
Content in this website may be linked to, as long as the linking webpage
and passage has a known and clearly stated author.
Here is what Governor Fletcher has to say when asked about competition for Unions. Shouldn't employers also have competition in the health care industry? Jan 14, 2006
Video Requires Windows Media Player.
View Policy Report on |
Healthcare is one of the last industries where competition is discouraged for fear of escalation of costs. The banking and the airline industry had similar protections. These were removed decades ago with resultant benefits to the consumer.
The premise behind Kentucky's current health care system is that
corporations will pass on their savings gained from state granted monopolies
to the consumer and not the stockholders or officeholders. This
is an honor system, since in healthcare there is no Public Service
Commission.
Without competition high prices with low quality can occur.
| However in health care, many states have a certificate of need which has the effect of blocking potential competitors from entering a market. To learn more about this subject select the buttons to the right. |
  |
In 2004, the by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice compiled and extensive report after 27 days of testimony from 250 panelists, coupled with independent research, reached the following as one of their conclusions:
| “States should decrease barriers to entry into provider markets. States with Certificate of Need programs should reconsider whether these programs best serve their citizens’ health care needs. The Agencies believe that, on balance, CON programs are not successful in containing health care costs, and that they pose serious anticompetitive risks that usually outweigh their purported economic benefits." |
 |