Concentration in Health Care Markets

This Policy Study by Barak Richman at AEI is well worth your time.  We purchase our health care in markets with a lot of potential (and actual) monopoly power.  For example, a large hospital system basically enforces collusion among what might otherwise have been many small, competing providers.  It is not a surprise that the prices are high, rising, and disproportionate to customer satisfaction.  Markets in which high fixed costs and monopoly are so pervasive invite government regulation, for good or ill.  Richman discusses any number of anti-trust strategies to address the problem. 

I have written on a related issue of insurer market power in earlier blog posts, here and here.