Free Market Health Care

Not as fun as a hunting accident, but the President's health care ideas are getting high marks. The WSJ says (paid site, sorry!):

Washington denizens who say the Bush Administration is out of domestic ideas haven't been paying attention. The more we look at the fine print in the health-care reforms President Bush is now stumping for, the more we see the potential for the most sweeping and beneficial changes in half a century.

One way to think about the Bush reforms is as HillaryCare in reverse. The former first lady sought to mandate employer-based coverage and then hold down costs by brute government force ("managed care"). Mr. Bush is instead attempting to revitalize the private market for individual health insurance, so employees are ultimately less dependent on their bosses' coverage and can ultimately buy the kind of insurance that makes better sense for them. Along the way, Americans would also become wiser consumers of health-care services.

When you start to think that the Democrats and Republicans are all alike -- which they too often are -- contrast command-and-control-HillartyCare to Hayekian-free-market-HSAs and walk proudly, Republicans!

Pharmaceuticals Posted by jk at February 21, 2006 9:27 AM