Executive Summary

VIII. Conclusion

The fundamental premise of the American free-market system is that consumer welfare is maximized by open competition and consumer sovereignty — even when complex products and services such as health care are involved. The Agencies play an important role in safeguarding the free-market system from anticompetitive conduct, by bringing enforcement actions against parties who violate the antitrust and consumer protection laws. To be sure, in some instances compelling state interests may trump or limit free-market competition. The Agencies play an important role here as well, by making policy makers aware of the costs of impediments to competition, and by advocating for competitive market solutions.

The Agencies do not have a pre-existing preference for any particular model for the financing and delivery of health care. Such matters are best left to the impersonal workings of the marketplace. What the Agencies do have is a commitment to vigorous competition on both price and non-price parameters, in health care and in the rest of the economy. Much remains to be accomplished to ensure that the market for health care goods and services operates to serve the interests of consumers. This Report identifies concrete steps to improve competition in the health care marketplace, and improve the application of competition law to health care.