Those silly conservatives and their irrational fear of rationing. We probably didn’t need those 45 new hospitals anyway. As anyone who has visited a hospital recently can tell you, their waiting rooms are barren wastelands where every patient who walks in the door can be dealt with in a timely manner.

Under the headline, “Construction Stops at Physician Hospitals,” Politico reports today that “Physician Hospitals of America says that construction had to stop at 45 hospitals nationwide or they would not be able to bill Medicare for treatments.” Stopping construction at doctor-owned hospitals might not seem like the best way to boost the economy or to promote greater access and choice in health care, but that exactly what Obamacare is doing.

Why the stoppage? Section 6001 of the health care reform law (ObamaCare) prohibits construction of any new physician-owned hospitals. Build a physician-owned hospital and you’ll lose the ability to accept Medicare patients, who obviously consume a large segment of society.

Why was the provision included? To appease the American Hospital Association, which coincidentally decided to support ObamaCare. Fewer new hospitals means less competition for existing hospitals. Basically, the provision was included to suppress competition.