The unintended and anticompetitive consequences of laws to control health care costs [CON implications]

The unintended and anticompetitive consequences of laws to control health care costs [CON implications]
JAMA Forum; by Lanhee J. Chen; 6/24
An array of federal and state laws, and accompanying regulations, restrict the supply of health care, driving up costs and making health care less affordable and accessible for many in the US. Too few health policy analysts and commentators have paid attention to these supply-side limitations that play a significant role in limiting the number of clinicians and health care facilities. Even though some of these policies were well-intentioned and designed to control costs, they have, in practice, undermined competition and ironically led to higher prices in the long run... Together, CON and COPA laws, as well as the ACA restrictions on POHs, have been associated with a host of unintended consequences, such as the aggregation of market power in increasingly larger health care facilities, limited access to care, and higher costs for patients. Indeed, these supply-side restrictions have been critiqued by analysts across the ideological spectrum. Policymakers at both the state and federal level should take note of the unintended effects of these laws and their accompanying regulatory provisions and consider whether their repeal or modification would benefit patients and the communities where they live.