Health care reform and the pharmaceutical industry

Consumer choice among competing private plans should be strengthened, rather than lending support to the mandate for a government single-payer plan. A major theme running through this position paper is that drugs are not only the most cost-effective form of medical treatment, but they represent only a small share of the national health care expenditures. In this article, the author focuses on defending three guiding principles for reform: (1) all Americans should have prescription-drug coverage; (2) competition can and must be relied on to control costs; and (3) the discovery of new cures must be actively encouraged through adequate incentives for the pharmaceutical industry.