Government Should Stay Out of Health Care Policy

The staff correctly points out the financing problem with the Clinton plan. But in discussing this "sideeffect," The Crimson seems to miss the proposal's critical faults. President Clinton's health care reform plan is founded on the belief that we can rely on government to fix our problems.

We simply do not need more heavy-handed government intervention. After all, it is government distortions of the free market which caused the health care crisis in the first place. What the country needs is a health care system based on consumer choice and the free market. The free market will present individuals with an incentive to consume medical services efficiently.

In addition, The Crimson's model plan hopes to restore the incentive to conserve health care spending through copayments. But 10 percent copayments will do little to restore the proper incentives, since individuals will still be getting health care for 90 percent off.

Only by reducing government intervention can we rein in spiraling health care costs.