Health Policy Analysis: Antitrust Law and Regulation on Health Care Providers

摘要

The purpose of this theoretical policy analysis report was to determine if antitrust laws should be based upon concrete wrongful conduct and should not force the health care industry to adopt defensive, cumbersome business practices that actually impede their ability to compete. The role of antitrust is to ensure that competition is preserved and protected so that it can be harnessed. It is in the government interest to supports efforts that bring more competition to the health insurance marketplace that lowers costs, expand choice, improve quality; with the role of antitrust to ensure that competition is preserved and protected to help improving the U.S. health care system, together with regulation to expand coverage and control cost of health care for general population.  Therefore, antitrust cases and sanctions need to be tightly tied to defensible theories of wrongful conduct in order to properly reflect what society thinks is wrong and clarify what is punishable conduct.