Pre-Existing Conditions: How Lobbying Makes American Health Care More Expensive

ISBN: 0197813909

Author: Alex Garlick

Health care inflation is a major problem in the US, and this book shows that lobbying by the health care industry is responsible for the runaway cost of health care in many states. Lobbyists are not all powerful, but Garlick argues that cost containment policy tends to be debated under circumstances where lobbyists have the most leverage over legislators. He shows that in states with powerful health care industry lobbies, legislators consider fewer bills to regulate the health care sector, bills to regulate the industry are more likely to be defeated or weakened. Ultimately, consumers spend more money on health care.