Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2007 - Section B; Column 1; Pg. 12

Editor:

Amy Finkelstein writes that "universal" health coverage could offer financial stability to all Americans as Medicare has done for seniors, although it's likely to increase health-care spending drastically ("The Cost of Coverage," editorial page, Feb. 28). Prof. Finkelstein describes Americans' increased use of health care under a Medicare model as the natural consequence of increased "affordability." But who's really paying the bills? Medicare devours the finances of working Americans. Dr. Thomas Saving of Texas A&M University estimated that Medicare will consume almost a quarter of all federal income taxes by 2020, and three-eighths of all federal income taxes by 2030.

Diana M. Ernst
Health Care Policy Fellow
Pacific Research Institute
San Francisco, CA