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Unhealthy Care

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Here’s a letter [2] published in the 12 Feb. 2011 Washington Post:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote that “The Affordable Care Act puts states in the driver’s seat because they often understand their health needs better than anyone else – and that is why it is so frustrating to hear opponents of reform falsely attack the law as ‘nationalized health care’ ” [“Health-care reform, the states’ way [3],” Washington Forum, Feb. 11].

She missed the point. Calling Obamacare “nationalized health care” expresses opposition to the displacement of private decisions and market competition by decisions made by government. The fact that state governments are “leading” (as Ms. Sebelius says) this effort to displace markets with government control is irrelevant.

Put differently, those of us who oppose Obamacare dispute Ms. Sebelius’s claim that “states . . . often understand their health needs better than anyone else.” States have no health needs. Individuals and families do. And by turning more control of health-care provision over to government, Obamacare further strips those of us with health needs of the power and responsibility to make our own choices as each of us – rather than government – sees fit.

Donald J. Boudreaux, Burke

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