Palin Targets Obama, Democrats on Health Care in WSJ Op-Ed

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece Tuesday, said that the approach to health care reform being pursued by President Obama and the Democrats is fatally flawed because it assumes that only government can solve the problem:

How can we ensure that those who need medical care receive it while also reducing health-care costs? The answers offered by Democrats in Washington all rest on one principle: that increased government involvement can solve the problem. I fundamentally disagree.

Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals "will provide more stability and security to every American."

With all due respect, Americans are used to this kind of sweeping promise from Washington. And we know from long experience that it's a promise Washington can't keep.

Instead of looking to government for answers, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate lists some viable, non-governmental alternatives to reform health care:

Instead of poll-driven "solutions," let's talk about real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. As the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and others have argued, such policies include giving all individuals the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; providing Medicare recipients with vouchers that allow them to purchase their own coverage; reforming tort laws to potentially save billions each year in wasteful spending; and changing costly state regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care.

What Sarah Palin has done is to preempt President Obama’s health care speech by writing the rebuttal the day before Obama delivers it. Read Sarah Palin's op-ed unabridged here.

- JP