The problem with regulations is that they give more power to a few people and raise costs for the rest of us. Certificate of Need (CON) in North Carolina limits competition from new hospitals that could challenge existing players and reduce costs for insurers and patients. A federal investigation of hospital-insurer negotiations in Boston illustrates the problems with overly powerful hospitals and provider networks.
Our new health care law will all but ban physician-owned specialty hospitals and so limit further the market’s ability to restrain health care price inflation.
