Question 1: If the interest group theory applies to hospitals, why doesn't it also apply to nursing homes? Would a doctor-owned, for-profit hospital be as attractive to physicians as a nonprofit hospital?
Question 2: Can we say which are the most efficient hospitals nonprofits or for-profits? Which are the most efficient nursing homes? What qualifications apply to our present knowledge in each case? What is your view?
Question 3: Explain why it is often claimed that hospitals compete for doctors rather than patients. What are some of the implications of this phenomenon, assuming that it is true?
Question 4: Even nonprofit hospitals must earn a profit. Evaluate this statement.
Question 5: Suppose that the licensure requirements for health care providers were eliminated. Use supply-and-demand analysis to predict what may happen to the price and quantity of health care services. Are there other considerations, in particular, mechanism that could evolve to replace licensure?
Question 6: Explain and distinguish between the concentration ratio and the HHI. What ate the limitations of these measures within the context of the pharmaceutical industry?
Question 7: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is growing rapidly. List several products with which you have become familiar as a result of such advertising. Discuss the pros and cons of DTC advertising from the perspective of physicians and patients.