Obamacare and the Theory of the Firm

Elhauge, "Obamacare and the Theory of the Firm," in THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE REFORM (Malani and Schill, eds., U. Chicago Press 2015)

19 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2013 Last revised: 22 May 2016

Date Written: November 2015

Abstract

Health care fragmentation today raises costs and worsens health outcomes. The theory of the firm indicates that cost and quality problems could be addressed by permitting greater vertical integration among complementary health care providers. The puzzle is why such integration does not occur. The answer is that a host of regulatory and payment laws create artificial obstacles to such integration. Various provisions in Obamacare could and should be used to lift these obstacles and allow health care integration that could potentially save tens of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.

Keywords: Obamacare, Theory of the Firm, fragmentation, health care, integration

JEL Classification: I10, I11, I12, I18, K10, K22, K23

Suggested Citation

Elhauge, Einer R., Obamacare and the Theory of the Firm (November 2015). Elhauge, "Obamacare and the Theory of the Firm," in THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE REFORM (Malani and Schill, eds., U. Chicago Press 2015), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2293073

Einer R. Elhauge (Contact Author)

Harvard Law School ( email )

1575 Massachusetts
Hauser 406
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
413
Abstract Views
2,446
Rank
130,693
PlumX Metrics