We've been hearing a lot about universal health care. But before you give up on market competition, consider that government regulation of hospitals and medical professionals makes medical care much more expensive than it need be.
We seldom hear about difficulties in finding a doctor, rationing of services and poor-quality care under universal health care schemes - even though such problems are already happening in government-run programs in California. Individuals insured by state Medicaid programs have "insurance," but because of low reimbursement rates, they are too often unable to find physicians and specialists who will care for them.
It's even less often that we hear about another option, the only good option: Using innovation to make health care cheaper and more accessible.
When I say cheap health care, I don't mean we should pay physicians less. I mean delivering high-quality care in less-expensive ways. Annual physicals don't need to be done in a high-priced medical office, for example. We need to oppose moves to require audiologists to have doctorates; patients should have low-cost options when it comes to getting a simple hearing test. Likewise, we need to repeal laws that require physician assistants, physical therapists and nurse practitioners to have master's degrees.
One of the reasons health care costs are growing is that lobbyists for medical professionals and hospitals use such laws to protect their members from competition. If they keep blocking cost-saving innovations, it could backfire. The public will get so frustrated with the high cost of care that it will demand universal health care, which won't be a picnic for the industry or the rest of us.
The success of retail clinics across the country gives us a glimpse of what innovation can do for patients. "Convenience clinics" are popping up in pharmacies and big-box retailers. Staffed by nurse practitioners, convenience clinics provide routine care at affordable prices. (You don't need an M.D. to diagnose pink eye or an ear infection.)
The innovations will keep on coming - but only if we let them. Advances in software and other diagnostic tools can drastically improve medical diagnosis and treatment. They also can make medical care more affordable by allowing less-expensive, mid-level clinicians to diagnose and treat more illnesses. The physician lobby fights those innovations, and many doctors argue that software will miss some diagnoses. Do they mean that they never miss anything? The experts disagree. "Studies of autopsies have shown that doctors seriously misdiagnose fatal illnesses about 20 percent of the time," writes David Leonhardt in The New York Times. "Misdiagnosis is killing thousands of Americans every year."
