Perhaps you have heard that health markets work reasonably well when patients pay with their own money. LAZIK surgery and cosmetic surgery are two examples. Yet, the authors of a new study dispute this claim.

The article is called "Self-Pay Markets in Health Care: Consumer Nirvana or Caveat Emptor?" It was funded by the Center for Studying Health Systems Change (an RJR outfit) and appears at the Health Affairs web site. The authors (both non-economists) focus mainly on LAZIK surgery, but also include in vitro fertilization, cosmetic rhinoplasty and dental crowns. They do not find nirvana. Continue reading »