Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1999
Journal Title
Columbia Law Review
ISSN
0010-1958
Abstract
Efforts to reform the American health care system through direct government action have failed repeatedly. Nonetheless, an alternative strategy has emerged from these experiences: requiring insurance organizations and health care providers to disclose information to the public. In this Article, Professor Sage assesses the justifications for this type of regulation and its prospects. In particular, he identifies and analyzes four distinct rationales for disclosure. He finds that the most commonly articulated goal of mandatory disclosure laws-improving the efficiency of private purchasing decisions by giving purchasers complete information about price and quality- is the most complicated operationally. The other justifications-which he respectively terms the agency, performance, and democratic rationaleshold greater promise, but make different, sometimes conflicting assumptions about the sources and uses of information. These insights have implications not only for health care, but also for other regulated practices and industries.
First Page
1701
Last Page
1829
Num Pages
129
Volume Number
99
Issue Number
7
Publisher
Columbia Law School
Recommended Citation
William M. Sage,
Regulating Through Information: Disclosure Laws and American Health Care,
99
Colum. L. Rev.
1701
(1999).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/1757