Supermarkets is exactly what I had in mind, but perhaps it was stupid.
The cost of health care is kind of… a×b+c×d, except more complicated, where a is the hourly cost of a physician, b is the number of times you get an hour's care, c is the cost of a pill and d is the number of pills you get. Want the total sum to decrease? Then pick which one of a, b, c and d you want to decrease, and look at whether competition can help. A lot of this thread sounds like just "private equity is evil and therefore guilty", nothing to do with goal-directed efficacy.
> Then pick which one of a, b, c and d you want to decrease, and look at whether competition can help.
We already know the answer to this: competition can help decrease a and c, and even b and d might be fair game since competition in preventive care and preventive information can increase its effectiveness, which in turn reduces people's overall need for health care.
The cost of health care is kind of… a×b+c×d, except more complicated, where a is the hourly cost of a physician, b is the number of times you get an hour's care, c is the cost of a pill and d is the number of pills you get. Want the total sum to decrease? Then pick which one of a, b, c and d you want to decrease, and look at whether competition can help. A lot of this thread sounds like just "private equity is evil and therefore guilty", nothing to do with goal-directed efficacy.