Who can fathom the number and scope of regulations surrounding health care? This morning I read that something called proton therapy is a new form of treatment for cancer. (It's an alternative to or perhaps an enhancement of radiation therapy.)

There are five facilities in the country that offer this therapy. Northern Illinois University has permission to start another one, which it says will be finished in March, 2010.

In April, the state's health facilities planning board blocked a move by Central DuPage Hospital to build a similar facility. One reason for the denial, perhaps, is that the two centers would be only 6 miles apart.

Yet Chicagoland is one of the leading metropolitan areas in the country, so why--if you care about such things--shouldn't two facilities be sustainable? DuPage County, by the way, is in the 25 wealthiest counties in the country, so I expect that residents will demand the best services available--including new treatments.

The hospital's proposal is now being championed by 23 state lawmakers, who are pitching an appeal to the state regulatory board.

Imagine that your state senator's political power made the difference in the opening of a new medical clinic. That's the prospect of increasing the amount of power that government has over health care.