Essay On Competition In Health Care

Health insurance is available from several sources. Private health insurance is provided by private companies. Subscribers pay health insurance companies a monthly fee for health insurance. In return, the company agrees to pay the doctor and hospital costs if the subscriber gets sick. There are different levels of coverage that a subscriber can purchase, but the cost of a health insurance policy is also set by the amount of risk the subscriber is willing to take. The more expense the subscriber is willing to pay, as either deductible or co-payment, the less the insurance company will charge for the insurance. Some Americans purchase their own health insurance, but most employers pay for the health insurance of its workers. Often this insurance

price, quality, convenience, and superior products or services); however, competition can also be based on new technology and innovation. A key role of competition in health care is the potential to provide a mechanism for reducing health care costs. Competition generally eliminates inefficiencies that would otherwise yield high production costs, which are ultimately transferred to patients via high health service and delivery costs” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). “Competition in health care markets benefits consumers because it helps contain costs, improve quality, and encourage innovation” (https://www.ftc.gov). Competition compels companies to deliver increasing value to customers. The fundamental driver of this continuous quality improvement and cost reduction is innovation. Without incentives to sustain innovation in health care, short-term cost savings will soon be overwhelmed by the desire to widen access, the growing health needs of an aging population, and the unwillingness of Americans to settle for anything less than the best treatments available. The United States can achieve universal access and lower costs without sacrificing quality, but only by allowing competition to work at all levels of the health care system. Prices remain high even when there is excess capacity. Technologies remain expensive even when they are widely used. Hospitals and physicians remain in business even when they charge