For all its faults, America's health care sector has its advantages. It produces some of the highest survival rates in the world for cancer and other serious illnesses. Patients generally don't have to wait a year for a hip replacement. Being 70 doesn't make you ineligible for a kidney transplant. Rather than give up on all that, let's deregulate medical care so that providers can find innovative ways to deliver high-quality care cheaply. Let's eliminate the increasingly strict education requirements for clinicians and let medical professionals offer walk-in physicals or other services at competitive prices. They will rely on brand name and reputation to ensure quality.
We also need to better promote health savings accounts, which encourage consumers to shop for low-cost alternatives.
Retail clinics are only the first step. My hope is that the resulting increased access and reduced costs will build support for additional innovations - and the deregulatory policies necessary to make them possible.
