Wilson H. Taylor Scholar Joseph Antos

The health reform plan put forth by Senator Barack Obama focuses on expanding insurance coverage and provides new subsidies to individuals, small businesses, and businesses experiencing catastrophic expenses. It greatly increases the federal regulation of private insurance but does not address the core economic incentives that drive health care spending. This omission along with the very substantial short-term savings claimed raise serious questions about its fiscal sustainability. Heavy regulation coupled with a fallback National Health Plan and a play-or-pay financing choice also raise questions about the future of the employer insurance market. . . .

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Joseph Antos is the Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy at AEI. Gail Wilensky is a senior fellow at ProjectHOPE. Hanns Kuttner was a senior research associate at the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured at the University of Michigan.