About the only thing universal about health care in America is the recognition that the current system is unsustainable and something needs to be done to fix it.

In addition to the burden of spiraling health care costs on individuals, the ever-rising cost of health insurance threatens to destroy the competitiveness of American business and overwhelm those forced to acquire individual coverage.

The solution is not a big government take-over of health care. Government already pays more than 50% of health care expenses in America through MediCare, Medi-Caid, and other programs that balance their budgets by underfunding and pushing costs onto private payers. Without the remaining private sectors of the health care marketplace even the current system will continue to  deteriorate.

There remains a small window of opportunity for development of a free-market solution that does not create another gargantuan federal bureaucracy.

We need to energize the healthcare and health insurance industries with innovation and competition. America’s healthcare professionals and healthcare companies have proven to be at least as innovative and entrepreneurial as their counterparts throughout the general economy. While recognizing the unique challenges of health care we need to allow the free market to do for healthcare what it has done for the most vibrant and innovative portions of our economy.

It is the difference between a system “owned” by the government and  a government organized marketplace where the role of government is to set the ground rules, regulate the competitive environment and protect the consumers.

If we can develop a system that informs and empowers consumers to exercise their own right to decide what is best for them, and at what price, the system will be more responsive to patients and America can lead the world in quality health care.