October 25th, 2009
Health Care Costs and Protectionism
Reading some of Dean Baker’s work exposed me to an aspect of US health care coverage that I haven’t seen discussed much: protectionism for medical professionals and its impact on health care costs. According to this MNT article (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/77635.php), physicians are in short supply. This raises some interesting questions. How does the supply of medical service effect the cost of care and the salaries of medical professionals? Why is the supply short in the first place? And on the cautious side, could there be negative consequences of having a more saturated job market?
In recent history, trade agreements such as NAFTA have expanded the ability of US countries to invest in cheap imports produced by foreign workers. This has typically been referred to as “globalization”. While it has an impact on the market for manufactured goods, it has not applied to skilled professional services including medicine, law, academics and journalism where we in the United States seem to retain protectionist policies.
