Shouldn’t doctors be allowed to own hospitals?

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Experts from the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission , and the American Medical Association just released a paper urging Congress to peel back the Affordable Care Act’s restrictions on creating and expanding physician-owned hospitals.

Their analysis is correct. Such hospitals inject much-needed competition into the healthcare market. Consequently, repealing restrictions on them could help lower healthcare costs and expand access to healthcare.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act bans physician-owned hospitals from expanding and prevents new ones from participating in Medicare or Medicaid. Proponents of this ban argue that these hospitals are a net negative because they “cherry-pick” healthier patients and prescribe unnecessary treatments to increase their bottom lines.

Click to read the full article at The Washington Examiner.

Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.

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