Keep Special Interest Groups Out of Healthcare: Allow Direct Access to Physical Therapy

Abstract

As our state and federal governments continue to search for ways to reduce growing health care costs through restructuring, we must keep in mind that one of the best methods of reducing costs and improving healthcare is free market competition. One of the largest impediments to competition, especially in healthcare, is special interest group legislation that forbids or severely inhibits competition in the healthcare industry. Michigan preventing patients from having direct access to physical therapy is a perfect example of a law that inhibits competition in the healthcare industry to shelter a politically powerful group, the physician and chiropractor lobbies. Denying patients’ direct access to physical therapy significantly increases the cost of healthcare to patients, increases the waiting time for already backlogged physicians who are facing shortages, reduces the availability of alternative healthcare options thereby reducing the general quality of healthcare for patients.