Does it strike drivers on New Hampshire highways as unusual that hospitals, clinics, medical providers and the like are advertising on signs along the highway?
Has advertising for business really become part of American medicine?
Is advertising health care an example of the free market and capitalism?
Can a patient truly find the “competitive edge” to start “shopping” for doctors in terms of what they charge?
Are we soon to ask doctors’ success rates, or whether the doctor or hospital will offer a discount for families or repeat business?
When we are next presented with a bill, should we negotiate with the doctor or the administrator relative to line items and try to “knock it down”?
Finally, is it true that the cost of television advertising for prescription drugs is more than the research and design costs of the drugs themselves?
ROBERT A. STEIN
Concord