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Healthy Competition newsletter
October 7, 2008

Does Barack Obama Support Socialized Medicine?

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has proposed an ambitious plan to restructure America's health care sector -- a plan some have called "socialized medicine." Many others reject that label.

In the newest Cato Institute Briefing Paper, "Does Barack Obama Support Socialized Medicine?," Cato director of health policy studies Michael F. Cannon argues, "Reasonable people can disagree over whether Obama's health plan would be good or bad. But to suggest that it is not a step toward socialized medicine is absurd."

Licensing Inhibits Innovation

High health care costs are a problem in America and some support regulatory solutions. But before we give up on markets, let's give them a fair shot, says Cato adjunct scholar Shirley Svorny in an October 6th Los Angeles Times op-ed.

Joe Biden's Health Care Whopper

Joe Biden and Barack Obama have criticized the centerpiece of the McCain health plan. But this criticism is misinformed, says Michael F. Cannon, in an October 3rd New York Daily News op-ed.

Biden calls the McCain plan a tax increase because it would take away the tax breaks for employer-sponsored health insurance. Yet Biden does not recognize that the plan would give individuals two new tax breaks: a $5,000 reduction in each family's tax liability plus a de facto tax break by letting families control $9,000 of their earnings that employers would otherwise control.

Reforming Health Care in Wisconsin

In recent testimony before the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Health Care Reform, Cato Institute senior fellow Michael D. Tanner cautioned that "Healthy Wisconsin" is a fiscally unsound and potentially illegal health policy.

His recommendations: repeal mandated benefits; allow residents to purchase any health insurance plan approved for sale by any state; expand the scopes of practice of non-physician clinicians; and expand the use of Health Savings Accounts.

Cato Health Policy Studies in Multimedia

Healthy Competition is a periodic newsletter produced by the Cato Institute. It features news and commentary on current health policy issues from a free-market perspective. If you wish to subscribe to this free newsletter, update your address, or be removed from our list, please click here and follow the instructions. Send feedback to healthycompetition@cato.org.