Do we each want our physicians to prescribe the drugs for us that, in their judgment, will provide the most effective treatment? Or would we prefer that they participate in a test of an alternative approach that is being pushed by a distant and indifferent bureaucracy, in which they would be pointed toward choosing cheaper options?

The cost of prescription drugs can be a problem, but a government promise to pay providers in exchange for more control over their decisions is not a solution.

Why don’t we test, for example, allowing more insurance options that provide the possibility of reducing the cost to the insured when savings are achieved?

Richard E. Ralston

Executive director

Americans for Free Choice in Medicine

Newport Beach, Calif.