Managed Care and Monopoly Power

Antitrust is emerging as one of the hottest dimensions of health policy as America goes ever further down the road to market competition as our mechanism for controlling costs and motivating performance. Yet we lack any sustained treatment of the issues. This book will fill that need. It addresses an important set of issues at the confluence of health policy, economic theory, and antitrust law and policy. There is no other book like it. -- James C. Robinson, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley Written by a well-known and articulate economist, this book gives an enlightening account of health care antitrust law and policy. Coverage of the economic and legal literature is outstanding and up-to-date. The author makes a convincing argument for a principled, economics-based health care antitrust policy. Everyone with an interest in health policy, health economics or antitrust should read this book. -- H.E. Frech III, Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara

In this timely book, Haas-Wilson argues that enforcement of antitrust laws is the tool of choice in most cases to limit the growth of health care sector monopoly power. Focusing on the economic concepts necessary to the enforcement of antitrust laws in health care markets, she provides a useful roadmap for guiding the future of these markets.

As millions of Americans are aware, health care costs continue to increase rapidly. Much of this increase is due to the development of new life-sustaining drugs and procedures, but part of it is due to the increased monopoly power of physicians, insurance companies, and hospitals, as the health care sector undergoes reorganization and consolidation. There are two tools to limit the growth of monopoly power: government regulation and antitrust policy. In this timely book, Deborah Haas-Wilson argues that enforcement of the antitrust laws is the tool of choice in most cases.

The antitrust laws, when wisely enforced, permit markets to work competitively and therefore efficiently. Competitive markets foster low prices and high quality. Applying antitrust tools wisely, however, is a tricky business, and Haas-Wilson carefully explains how it can be done. Focusing on the economic concepts necessary to the enforcement of the antitrust laws in health care markets, Haas-Wilson provides a useful roadmap for guiding the future of these markets.