Brian Albrecht Quoted in Reason on Vertical Integration in Health Care
Reason quoted ICLE Chief Economist Brian Albrecht in an article examining the “Break Up Big Medicine Act” and the economic drivers of health care consolidation. Albrecht commented on the complex effects of vertical integration, noting that while it often reduces costs, recent research indicates that these efficiencies do not guarantee lower premiums for consumers.
Read the full piece here.
“That’s not automatic,” says Brian Albrecht, chief economist at the International Center for Law and Economics. Vertical integration often benefits consumers with lower prices by reducing costs through various mechanisms, but a paper published this January by the American Economic Journal found “premium increases for rival insurers post-merger [and]…no evidence of benefits to consumers of the merged firm from lower premiums.”