What works in health care

One of the silliest talking points many on the left have is that Republicans and conservatives do not have a solution to replace Obamacare with. Ben Domenech explains why that is wrong here. 

Yesterday, Mark Perry wrote of another example of how price competition can lead to better outcomes at lower costs. Obamacare, it probably doesn't need to be said, goes in the opposite direction with its further reliance on third-party billing. Writing of a medical center in Oklahoma City, Perry explains how it works:

Unlike most other medical providers, the Surgery Center posts transparent pricing and offers deeply-discounted, payable-in-advance, cash-only medical procedures. The center does accept private insurance, but it does not accept Medicaid or Medicare — government regulations won’t allow them to post transparent prices online. If any competitor offers a lower price, the Surgery Center will match or beat it, so patients can be guaranteed of getting the lowest price possible. ... And it’s working — other hospitals, both locally and nationally, are being forced to compete with the center’s low-cost surgery fees — which are typically one-sixth to one-eighth less than what most other hospitals and clinics are charging for the same procedures. For example, the Oklahoma University Medical Center charges $23,934 for an ankle arthroscopy, while the procedure will cost only $3,740 at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma.

In other Obamacare-related news, Michael Cannon says the Fourth Circuit court dealt a "hidden blow" to the overhaul.