San Francisco Chronicle

Letter to the Editor

Editor -- Californians should not be fooled by some legislators' promises to cover health care with bigger government ("Poll finds most voters want government to assure health coverage," Jan. 3). Insurance is not the only path to better health. Instead, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should focus on choice, responsibility and quality.

The governor should push for tax-deductible health savings accounts (HSAs) at the state level, so that Californians will have an incentive to have more control of their health expenses. Patients empowered with their own savings and choices will demand low-cost insurance plans that best meet their needs. For their part, insurance companies will respond with a broad variety of plans, if freed from excessive government regulation.

Government price controls on hospitals make it difficult for them to survive. Cost-conscious patients should be able to demand price transparency and choose the kind of physician-owned and "retail" clinics already succeeding in New Jersey. In California, excessive regulation hampers their growth. They should be allowed to thrive.

If the governor wants quality health care for California, the path is clear. The people, not the state, should have the most active role in choosing health care.

DIANA ERNST

Health care policy fellow
Pacific Research Institute
San Francisco