The battle being waged in 1994 over the control of medical care in the United States replicates in miniature the ongoing struggle in the wider society between government coercion and individual liberty. Are we willing under the Clinton plan's centralized management to turn the U.S. health sector over to the federal government? We say no.

In the United States, the patient has been removed from the watchdog consumer role by third parties that pay the bills. We would restore consumers' responsiblity for their own medical care and constrain prices by enacting tax-free deposits to medical savings accounts or to the now generic medical IRA (individual retirement account). The government would replace Medicaid with nontransferable cash vouchers to the poor to purchase health insurance or medical care or both. It would be illegal to deny health insurance to those with prior or existing diseases, and fallback insurance would be offered to high-health-risk persons.