Is anyone here a Toyota doctor?

If government regulation worked, health care would be the smoothest running industry in the country. However, regulations make healthcare burdensome for patients and doctors.

Some doctors in the area have embraced a new business model of care known as “boutique” medicine, in which patients pay an upfront fee of several thousand dollars a year in exchange for 24-hour access to physicians, unhurried appointments, home visits and other benefits. This concept has sprung from the feeling that many doctors have of being overworked.

Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Howard County's health officer and former Baltimore health commissioner, said he understands the frustrations of primary-care doctors. "But I have serious qualms about this trend toward concierge medicine," he said. "It's absolutely critical that we have enough primary-care doctors, and this just compounds the problem."

By licensing doctors, the government and medical labor unions have created barriers to entry that are very high and that result in a low supply of high quality doctors. You would think that patients are better off, but in fact this makes patients pay more in terms of higher fees for medical services and longer waiting times to see their physician.

If you want to purchase a new car, you have the option of spending a bundle on a fully loaded BMW M3 convertible, or you buy something as modest and low cost as a Kia. You also have hundreds of options in between these two types of cars. By regulating the supply of doctors, we end up with a bunch of BMW doctors when in fact, a few-low end Kia doctors or mid-range Honda Accord doctors would serve the needs of many patients.

I have no doubt that the government, in a flagrant display of foolishness, will begin to regulate boutique medicine in order to ensure that no one can get good health care, be they rich or poor.