Passage
of Amendment 69 would change the Colorado Constitution to give an entity called ColoradoCare the right to set prices for all medical services provided by any health provider licensed by the state. This includes physicians.
What if ColoradoCare sets prices too low? Hospitals can provide lower quality care, let facilities deteriorate, and stop investing in new equipment. Physicians can leave the state to find employment elsewhere. They can also try to bargain with the single entity setting the prices for their services.
In Britain, where National Health Service looks a lot like ColoradoCare, the bargaining with the single entity setting prices is going so well that junior doctors working in hospitals are going on strike. Patients who think they need medical care are being advised to “plan ahead.” Pharmacists, dentists, opticians, opticians, midwives, and nurses are being suggested as substitutes.
(Click to enlarge)Linda Gorman directs the Health Care Policy Center at the Independence Institute, a free market think tank in Denver.
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