A dose of reality: assessing the Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice report in an uninsured, underserved, and vulnerable population context

Despite the size of their report, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice pay virtually no attention to tens of millions of uninsured and underinsured persons. By focusing on an increasingly rarified group of health care customers--healthy, affluent, and highly insured--the report takes on an untethered quality, with only the slightest tip of the hat to its own limitations. Furthermore, the report overstates the extent of legal constraints on the market, in particular, the degree to which the market is free to select its customers and tailor its goods and services to the best risks. By miscasting the legal context of the American health care system, the report ultimately undermines much of its potential value.