I am having a hard time understanding the following question. I thank you for your help.


Directions: Read the following paragraph and then answer the question that follows it.

With countless mergers in recent years between hospital systems, health insurers, pharmaceutical corporations, and others, health care has become increasingly consolidated. Unfortunately, bigger is not always better for consumers; studies show consolidation often leads to higher prices and worse service. More scrutiny of health care mergers and tougher anti-trust enforcement against companies that seek to avoid competition could make a big difference.

Should there be a preservation on competition?

I would concentrate on this ~~> "studies show consolidation often leads to higher prices and worse service."

The question is asking for your opinion (backed up, of course, by data and any other solid information) — should competition be preserved? If you agree, then you are arguing for competition and against consolidation. That means you'd be arguing for "tougher anti-trust enforcement against companies that seek to avoid competition."

Does that make sense? I hope so!

To answer the question, "Should there be a preservation on competition?" we need to understand the context provided in the paragraph.

The paragraph discusses the consolidation of various entities in the healthcare industry, such as hospital systems, health insurers, and pharmaceutical corporations. It points out that while consolidation may make these entities bigger, it is not always beneficial for consumers. Studies have shown that consolidation often leads to higher prices and worse service.

The paragraph suggests that more scrutiny of health care mergers and tougher enforcement of anti-trust laws against companies that avoid competition could make a positive difference.

Based on this information, we can infer that the paragraph is advocating for preserving competition in the healthcare industry. It implies that competition is necessary to prevent consolidation from leading to higher prices and worse service for consumers.

So, to answer the question, "Should there be a preservation on competition?", based on the information provided in the paragraph, it would be reasonable to say that yes, there should be a preservation on competition in order to prevent negative impacts on consumers.