On Health-Care Costs

            Reports of mail-bomb scares less than two weeks from mid-term elections drowned out discussions of other important factors in deciding which party to favor at the ballot box.  One of these is the exploding cost of health care and how to control it.  Socialists like Bernie Sanders continue to push for a single-payer system, even though there is ample evidence that such systems in countries like Canada and Great Britain have resulted in a drastic reduction in the quality of health care. Rather than resorting to socialized medicine, we should be looking at other ways to rein in costs. One of these, among many, is price competition.

            The other day my wife and I dined at a restaurant with moderately priced entrees on the menu. My wife ordered a shrimp dish for $18, but I chose a lamb piccata special listed on a board at the entrance to the restaurant. The lamb dish was good, but it certainly wasn’t worth the $34 I was hit with on the bill. There had been no price listed on the board, and it was my fault for not asking before ordering. Had I known the price I would not have ordered the dish; having been the victim of what I felt was price-gouging, I will never return to that restaurant.

            Can we make this an analogy to health care? How many people facing the cost of a knee replacement and several days in the hospital shop around for the facility with the lowest cost? Probably none, because hospitals don’t post prices. Many costs result from unnecessary tests and procedures, but how many patients question their need and how much they cost? Probably none, if they have insurance that will cover them.

            The point is that there is virtually no price competition among major health care providers like hospitals. I submit that if the prices of all their services were available to the public, the open market would come into play to drive prices down by forcing providers to be more innovative and efficient. Competition, an essential element of capitalism, works in the marketplace, be it in shoe stores, gas stations, and restaurants. Many factors could drive down the cost of health care; competition wouldn’t be a bad way to start.