Whether People Should Be Allowed to Choose Anyone They Want to Be Their Doctor - Essay Example

The consumer has still considerable market power since he can shop elsewhere for medical services if the service provided is either expensive or poor thus improving the quality of medical services. Licensing alone is not the best solution to protect the consumers since certification is enough to rid of incompetent health service providers. Proponents of licensing argue that it makes licensed Physicians provide competent services in an ethical manner since it makes them accountable for the health outcomes of patients (Dingwall 97).

 If there was no licensing, the price of Physician services will decline since there would be more competition among the physicians thus leading to a reduction in costs. The need to comply with the licensing requirements also increases the costs of services and leads to more litigations that also raise the prices of services (Shi and Singh 78).

  If the medical field was not regulated, the quality of medical care would increase. Licensing reduces the number of available physicians and inflates medical costs that limit access to health care by the poor population. Licensing also stifles innovation in health care by controlling curriculums in medical schools thus limiting the implementation of better alternatives in medical services. Licensing also damages the doctor-patient relationship since it creates a conflict of interest in instances where physician loyalty may be divided between satisfying the licensing board requirements and providing medical attention to the patient since the doctor must follow the requirements of the licensing board (Shi and Singh 105.

Physicians should not be licensed since this action creates false consumer expectations and distorts the healthcare market through subsidies from the government. Licensing also limits innovation, reduces competition between doctors, and creates an artificial shortage of physicians