Health Care Markets

In the current debate over rising health care costs, we market lovers cringe when we hear of government health care. The proponents of change say that the current market system is not working. I would agree. The problem is not with markets, but with the market conditions of health care. In order for markets to work effectively people must be aware of prices, there must be true competition, and consumers must bear the cost of their decisions. All these aspects of an effective market are missing for most health care consumers. This article contains this quote:


Ask most Americans how much it costs to visit a doctor and they probably do not know.

Ask doctors what their fees are and they're not likely to know that either.

Health care prices - both physician fees and prices of medical procedures - have been cloaked in mystery for decades.