Showing why government-run health care is bad is a necessary task. But it's not sufficient . The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs is working on a comprehensive package that will help Oklahomans achieve better lives when it comes to their health. It's called O-CHIP, or the Oklahoma Comprehensive Health Independence Plan.

Independence. I like that. Not SCIHP--focused on state-provided insurance--but on the ability of a person to be independent in taking care of his own health needs.

Tom Daxon writes one of the first articles in a series on the project. He says:

O-CHIP recognizes that our health care system works best when everyone has health insurance or other non-government means to pay for care. O-CHIP addresses these concerns by (1) dramatically deregulating the health insurance market and (2) providing assistance for low-income individuals by helping them buy health insurance.

It looks like an individual mandate will be included, which is not ideal. But there are many worthwhile elements of the plan, which will be fully explained later this month.

The objectives include the following:

• Provide Oklahomans greater ability to improve and maintain their own health.
  
• Assure all citizens access to a system which minimizes damage to the economy.
• Encourage family stability and work.