Occupational Licensing, US Medical Residencies and the Doctor Shortage

Milton Friedman dedicated an entire chapter of his 1962 bestseller Capitalism and Freedom to Occupational Licensure and famously criticized the licensing of physicians in the US as being a cause of high costs and doctor shortages. Nearly 60 years later, the physician licensing pipeline, health care costs and doctor shortages (particularly in rural areas) remain a critical public policy issue. Niskanen Center policy analyst Robert Orr breaks down his latest report on repairing the U.S. medical residency pipeline.