I think you need to have incentives in place to foster innovation in healthcare somehow. Consolidating hospitals sounds like a way on monopoly, i agree, but con

I think you need to have incentives in place to foster innovation in healthcare somehow. Consolidating hospitals sounds like a way on monopoly, i agree, but consolidation could also happen on payer (single payer?) side, which would give some bargaining power. I think at this point US healthcare system is too complex for many of us to follow. We have different private practices, labs, hospital facilities, and all that comes with the cost of opacity. When you can't really tell how much you are going to pay to whom in advance comes with loss of power to choose (a different care-giver), which probably creates local monopolies.