Friday, August 29, 2008

Listen Up, Conservatives!

Time to pay attention to health care

By Greg Scandlen

The American Spectator ran a terrific article by Philip Klein about the need for conservatives to pay attention to health care. It is a comprehensive look at the problems in the current system, especially the fundamental flaws of employer-based third-party payment combined with excessive regulations, all of which combine to drive up costs and limit choice.

He describes how “progressives” are focusing on these problems in order to grow the power and influence of government, while conservatives are hiding under the blankets or helping to pass liberal “reforms” in order to stave off even worse outcomes. But “there’s no reason for conservatives to be torn between indifference and acquiescence on one of the most important domestic issues of our time,” he writes. The current perception that “conservatives want to preserve (the existing system)” is “a losing argument.” Instead, “It is important for conservatives to point out that far from having a free market, America is a nation whose health-care system is suffering from ham-handed government intrusions into the free market.”

He lays out the argument for expanding free markets in health care and quotes many CHCC members in the process, including Regina Herzlinger, John Goodman, David Gratzer, Bob Hurley, and yours truly.

This might be one of the most important magazine articles on these issues since Milton Friedman’s 2001 essay in the Public Interest. Let’s hope it is widely circulated and read by our “ready to surrender” friends.