Some in the current health insurance debate argue that you simply cannot introduce market forces into the health system and still hope the needy are served. Here is a little bit of evidence, so does increased competition across hospitals reduce charity care?
Despite the pervasive belief that competition impedes a hospital’s ability to offer services to the uninsured and under-insured, I find no statistically significant evidence that increased competition leads to reductions in charity care. In fact, I find some evidence that reduced competition leads to higher prices for uninsured patients.