The department of health and welfare studies conducts research on new, market-based approaches to health, welfare, and other "entitlements." In all the department's research the focus is on individual responsibility rather than government control. The department also oversees Cato's Project on Social Security Privatization—widely considered the leading impetus for transforming the soon-to-be-bankrupt system into a private savings program. Cato's health and welfare department has popularized the idea that consumers should be in control of their health care, not government, insurers, or employers. Cato has been a leader in promoting such free-market alternatives as medical savings accounts, and a universal tax credit for health expenditures. On welfare, the Cato Institute challenges the conventional wisdom that welfare can be reformed, arguing instead for the end of a welfare system that has bred dependence and despair while creating a permanent American underclass.