![Health care team performing surgery](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/2021-01/GettyImages-1139851278.jpg?itok=VtCs0qNw) # Health Care At a Glance The freedom to make one’s own health care decisions is a fundamental human right. When government protects that right, innovation and competition make health care more universal—better, more affordable, and more secure. When government taxes our earnings or restricts our choice of providers, treatments, and health insurance, it denies that right and makes health care less universal. Subscribe to the Cato Health email newsletter Join the Conversation [\#CatoHealth](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoHealth) Share This Topic #### Featured Content [![US Capitol Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-10/capitol-building%20Cropped.jpg?itok=BVfQ4DiT)](https://www.cato.org/commentary/costly-anticompetitive-healthcare-policy-almost-nobody-has-heard) Commentary ## [The Costly, Anticompetitive Healthcare Policy (Almost) Nobody Has Heard Of](/commentary/costly-anticompetitive-healthcare-policy-almost-nobody-has-heard) By [Scott Lincicome](https://www.cato.org/people/scott-lincicome) Certificate of need laws: what they are and why they are bad. [![health care](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-09/GettyImages-2178146294.jpg?itok=klAxogY4)](https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/certificate-need-regulation-blocking-greater-access-higher-quality-lower-cost-care) Study ### [Certificate of Need: The Regulation Blocking Greater Access to Higher-Quality and Lower-Cost Care](/briefing-paper/certificate-need-regulation-blocking-greater-access-higher-quality-lower-cost-care) By [Stephen Slivinski](https://www.cato.org/people/stephen-slivinski) and Matthew D. Mitchell State certificate of need laws restrict supply of health services. That’s bad news for patients. [![Health care assistants ](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2023-05/Expanding-Access-cover.jpg?itok=3LbSuDzt)](https://www.cato.org/blog/trump-fighting-obamacare-fraud-awol-obamacare-relief) blog ### [President Trump: Fighting Obamacare Fraud, AWOL on Obamacare Relief](/blog/trump-fighting-obamacare-fraud-awol-obamacare-relief) By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) Trump should demand that Congress codify his 2018 rule. If Congress won’t act, the administration should reissue that 2018 rule. [![drugs](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2024-11/drug%20cartel.jpg?itok=69b_W9eV)](https://www.cato.org/blog/uns-drug-report-makes-unintended-case-against-prohibition) blog ### [The UN’s Drug Report Makes an Unintended Case Against Prohibition](/blog/uns-drug-report-makes-unintended-case-against-prohibition) By [Jeffrey A. Singer](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-singer) Prohibition has not defeated the market. It has reshaped it. [![Marijuana Field at Sunset - BG](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2023-09/marijuana-field.jpg?itok=OJLSmRS0)](https://www.cato.org/commentary/prohibition-didnt-stop-marijuana-use-it-stopped-marijuana-research) Commentary ### [Prohibition Didn’t Stop Marijuana Use. It Stopped Marijuana Research.](/commentary/prohibition-didnt-stop-marijuana-use-it-stopped-marijuana-research) By [Adam Omary](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-omary) and [Jeffrey A. Singer](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-singer) Rescheduling marijuana will make it easier to study a drug that tens of millions of Americans already use. [View More Related Content](/search/topic/14) [![Doctor holding hands with patient.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/2022-01/2022_doctor_patient.jpg?itok=OkdKO-LL)](https://www.cato.org/making-health-savings-accounts-work-everyone) ##### Featured Project ### [Making Health Savings Accounts Work for Everyone](https://www.cato.org/making-health-savings-accounts-work-everyone) Health savings accounts, or HSAs, are tax‐​free accounts that let workers control their health care dollars without penalty. Taxpayers with high‐​deductible health plans can put money in an HSA, then either save those funds or use them to pay out‐​of‐​pocket medical expenses, all tax‐​free. At present, health savings accounts free only a small share of workers to control only a small share of those earnings. Congress can restore health care rights and improve health care by making health savings accounts work for everyone. [About This Project](https://www.cato.org/making-health-savings-accounts-work-everyone) #### Meet Our Experts [![Romina-Boccia-cropped2.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2022-09/Romina-Boccia-cropped2.jpg?itok=JFTKLQrg)](/people/romina-boccia) ##### [Romina Boccia](/people/romina-boccia) Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy [![Michael F. Cannon](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2021-01/Michael%20Cannon.jpg?itok=CysVdsIU)](/people/michael-f-cannon) ##### [Michael F. Cannon](/people/michael-f-cannon) Director of Health Policy Studies [![Media Name: jcochrane.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/authors/crops/jcochrane.jpg?itok=pAJCmQL9)](/people/john-cochrane) ##### [John H. Cochrane](/people/john-cochrane) Adjunct Scholar [![Media Name: dhyman.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/authors/crops/dhyman.jpg?itok=M9oB29fJ)](/people/david-hyman) ##### [David A. Hyman](/people/david-hyman) Adjunct Scholar [![Media Name: jaw-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/authors/crops/jaw-cropped.jpg?itok=pNLczTdY)](/people/peter-martin-jaworski) ##### [Peter Martin Jaworski](/people/peter-martin-jaworski) Adjunct Scholar [![Media Name: charles-silver-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/authors/crops/charles-silver-cropped.jpg?itok=2_YXvhXM)](/people/charles-silver) ##### [Charles Silver](/people/charles-silver) Adjunct Scholar [![Bautista Vivanco Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2025-07/Bautista%20Vivanco%20Cropped-3.png?itok=YSxxBdoD)](/people/bautista-vivanco) ##### [Bautista Vivanco](/people/bautista-vivanco) Research Associate [![Aaron Yelowitz](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2021-01/Aaron%20Yelowitz.jpg?itok=9pup4ct8)](/people/aaron-yelowitz) ##### [Aaron Yelowitz](/people/aaron-yelowitz) Senior Fellow