The "Rube Goldberg" plan

To the Raleigh News & Observer

The John Edwards plan for America's health care system consists of a single-payer initiative run by the government, and an apparent market initiative with plans provided by private companies. According to Mr. Edwards, "the idea is to determine whether Americans actually want a private insurer or whether they would rather have a government-run...single-payer plan." The details of this plan, however, make me think that this "contest" is rigged.

His plan would force everyone in America to be covered, force employers to fund employee plans in one fashion or another, and force health insurance companies to cover certain services and provide a "fair" price for those services. Calling this a market-based approach stretches the language beyond any Orwellian measure. Both supply and demand would be coerced into a "play" market within which market signals would be prevented from properly allocating scarce resources.

This plan would be better termed the "Rube Goldberg" health care plan - a complex system with the simple purpose of getting Mr. Edwards elected.