A study released today by the Heritage Foundation (authored by Christopher M. Pope) succinctly describes the inherently anticompetitive nature of Obamacare, which will tend to inflate prices, not reduce costs:

“The growth of monopoly power among health care providers bears much responsibility for driving up the cost of health care over recent years. By mandating that general hospitals provide uncompensated care, state and federal legislators have given them cause to insist on regulations and discriminatory subsidies to protect them from cheaper competitors. Instead of freeing these markets to allow the provision of care by the most efficient organizations, the Affordable Care Act endorses these anti-competitive arrangements. It extends the premium paid for treatment in general hospitals, employs the purchasing power of the Medicare program to encourage the consolidation of medical practices, and reforms insurance law to eliminate many of the margins for competition between carriers. Institutions sheltered from competition tend to accumulate unnecessary costs over time. In the absence of pro-competitive reforms, higher spending under Obamacare is likely to only further inflate prices faced by those seeking affordable care.”

In short, as the study demonstrates, “[t]he shackling of competition is an essential feature of Obamacare, not a bug.” Accordingly, Obamacare’s enactors (Congress) and implementers (especially HHS) could benefit from a dose of competition advocacy aimed at reforming this welfare-destructive regulatory system. The study highlights particular worthwhile reforms:

“Refuse to prop up monopoly power. Government regulation and spending should not shield dominant providers from competitors. Monopolies are irresponsive to the needs of patients and payers. They are an unreliable method of subsidizing care that tends to both lower quality and inflate costs.

Repeal certificate-of-need laws. Legislative constraints on the construction of additional medical capacity should be repealed. Innovative providers should be allowed to expand or establish new facilities that challenge incumbents with lower prices and better quality.

Subsidize patients, not providers. Public policies should be provider-neutral. Payments should reimburse providers for providing care, period. In particular, publicly funded programs should not operate payment systems designed to keep certain providers in business regardless of the quality, volume, or cost of the treatments they provide. If some individuals are unable to pay for their care, policymakers should subsidize such needy individuals directly.

Allow patients to shop around. Wherever possible governments and employers should put patients in control of the funds expended on their care, and permit them to keep any savings they obtain from seeking out more efficient providers.

Repeal Obamacare and its mandates. Forcing individuals to purchase standardized health insurance establishes a captive market, making it easier for providers, insurers, and regulators to degrade services and inflate costs with impunity. Repealing Obamacare and its purchase mandates is essential to creating a market in which suppliers have the flexibility to respond to consumer demands for better value for their money.”

Perhaps the Federal Trade Commission, which has a substantial interest in promoting procompetitive health care policies, might consider holding a workshop exploring the merits of these reform proposals, as part of its ongoing initiatives in the health care area. (Commendably, and consistent with one of the Heritage study’s key recommendations, the FTC already has advocated in favor of the repeal of certificate-of-need laws.)

 - Alden Abbott is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.