rvices. Insurance companies and individuals will continue to seek the lowest cost providers they can find (who provide a minimum level of service), and the resources required to support government intervention at this level may simply be too high for some providers to accept. The result will be less competition and fewer choices for consumers, or higher prices for those providers who remain in the industry.
In all, the government took a much more active interventionist role in the latter half of the twentieth century than at anytime previous. This was due in large part to the increased funding of hospitals and direct payments (such as Medicare) in which the government engaged that previously did not exist, or that existed at a much reduced level. There has been, however, an additional result of the government's intervention which was perhaps unanticipated by government officials as they increased participation in the health care industry.
As the government increased its participation in the health care industry, the power of
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