Florida hospitals erecting barriers to entry

In past blogs we have noted the use of laws and regulations to slow down the forces of competition. Florida hospitals are busy erecting barriers to entry:

The state's 289 full-service hospitals worry that if CON were removed, small, doctor-owned facilities focused on high-margin procedures for insured patients would open. These patients are needed at existing hospitals, Glatfelter said, to offset the 65 to 75 percent of patients who are uninsured or covered by Medicare or Medicaid, which reimburses at less than cost.

Siding with the hospital trade association is the influential business group Associated Industries of Florida. The group said studies by three auto manufacturers have shown that the cost for health care is significantly higher in states without CON. A hospital building boom would also exacerbate the shortage of doctors and nurses in Florida, it said.