Law Commons^™

Government As The Crucible For Free Market Health Care: Regulation, Reimbursement, And Reform, Robert Field

Robert I. Field

Political debates over economic policy commonly pit the virtues of the free market against those of government oversight. Regulatory policy then becomes an ongoing contest between the public and private sectors, infusing policy debates with a sense that it is necessary to choose between them. On closer examination, this duality is false. On a fundamental level, free-market entrepreneurs and government regulators are not opponents, but are, on the contrary, partners in a common enterprise. Across a range of major industries, one party could not exist without the other. In no industry is this interplay more important than in health care. …