The Lawmakers

A few weeks back in this department we reviewed the plight of Budget Director David Stockman as he grappled with the dreaded “uncon-trollables”—items in the federal budget that go up automatically, without any further action by Congress.

Although many commentaries suggest our recent binge of medical spending arose through some peculiar biogenesis in the health-care system, the cause of this problem is perfectly straightforward. It is third-party payment. Thanks to Medicare, Medicaid, and federal tax policies concerning employee health plans, the nation is awash in health insurance—to the point where 90 per cent of hospital bills, and 60 per cent of medical charges generally, are paid by someone other than the patient.

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M. Stanton Evans

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A few weeks back in this department we reviewed the plight of Budget Director David Stockman as he grappled with the dreaded “uncon-trollables”—items in the federal budget that go up automatically, without any further action by Congress.

Although many commentaries suggest our recent binge of medical spending arose through some peculiar biogenesis in the health-care system, the cause of this problem is perfectly straightforward. It is third-party payment. Thanks to Medicare, Medicaid, and federal tax policies concerning employee health plans, the nation is awash in health insurance—to the point where 90 per cent of hospital bills, and 60 per cent of medical charges generally, are paid by someone other than the patient.