Health Care, Antitrust, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Reihan Salam at National Review Online blogged today that people who want to improve health care should look to antitrust law.

Strangely, he didn’t note that the federal government is already applying antitrust in the health field. Last Supreme Court term saw antitrust cases involving hospitals and pharmaceuticals . And my Google Alert on antitrust keeps telling me about a health company in Idaho that’s trying to buy some hospitals there.

Nor did Salam note that there are many laws in place, such as licensing laws and "certificate of need" laws, to restrict competition in health care—and laws that restrict competition generally trump antitrust law.

But the biggest thing Salam didn’t mention is that  antitrust and (in its typical forms)  health reform  share a premise, the premise that the government must orchestrate the work of those who produce for the benefit of those who consume. This premise is the opposite of the right to the pursuit of one’s own happiness .

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