Suspend disbelief for a moment and assume that President Biden draws a GOP opponent next year who would have been viewed as mainstream in the Reagan-Bush era. And then go one step further and assume this candidate actually wants to take on challenges that Republicans have typically avoided as too fraught with political risk. In this imaginary and implausible scenario, what should this candidate say about improving health care, if anything?
The focus here is on a potential Republican candidate because it is assumed that President Biden and the Democratic party are fully committed to the course they have charted for years, which is toward stronger public control over both insurance rules and how medical care is priced and delivered. What the country needs is a strong presentation of the alternative to a government-managed system, which is one that relies on competition and choice to deliver better results. If such a plan does not get advanced by a GOP president or presidential candidate, it will never get a real hearing, much less get enacted.
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