In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, Grace-Marie Turner and Joseph Antos make a strong case for the Patients’ Choice Act, being introduced today by senators Coburn and Burr and Reps. Ryan and Nunes. Well worth reading.
Republican leaders have not yet decided what the main Republican alternative will be to the Democrats’ health care proposal—there are a few competing candidates, all worthwhile to varying degrees but none, in my humble opinion, as ambitious, serious, and well-designed as the Patients’ Choice Act. It’s the best comprehensive health-care proposal Republicans have produced to date, and shows that at least some in the party understand the need to engage the issue with a grasp of the differences between underlying problems (like cost control) and symptoms of those problems (like access to coverage), and with an actual appreciation for economic incentives and pressures. Not perfect, to be sure, but really very good.