Cato Scholar Comments on the White House Summit on Health Care Reform

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Michael D. Tanner, senior fellowmtanner@cato.org:

Today's White House Summit on Health Care Reform will almost certainly show a consensus on the need to reform our health care system, and widespread agreement on the problems facing that system: it costs too much; too many people lack health insurance; and quality, while high, is uneven.

But this seeming consensus should not be allowed to hide the fundamental disagreements over how to reform health care. The Obama administration and its allies mainly seek greater government control over one-seventh of the U.S. economy and some of our most important, personal, and private decisions. They favor individual and employer mandates, increased insurance regulation, middle-class subsidies, and a government-run system in competition with private insurance. On the other side are those who seek free market reforms and more consumer-centered health care.

These differences are profound and important. They cannot and should not be papered over by easy talk of bipartisanship.

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