Monday, July 02, 2007

It's The Health Care Costs, Stupid

Neither gubernatorial candidate is addressing a real pocketbook issue that could be fixed with a few simple changes in the law.

Health care.

Of course, Beshear thinks casinos will fix the problem, so Fletcher has a slight edge. But neither sees what repealing Certificate of Need would do. We need more competition among providers and insurers, yet our laws serve mainly to inhibit market forces from working.

It is a shame we have accomplished nothing on this front after four years with a Republican governor. The Democratic answers, meanwhile, will only make matters worse.

Free market supporters would do well to embrace this issue before it is too late.