re:  Unhealthy numbers- Bankruptcies, uncontrolled costs argue convincingly for health-care reform

In your editorial about health-care reform, the Chronicle rightly decries the lack of competition in the health insurance industry, noting that for consumers "choices are limited by what their employers offer".  Yet rather than advocating policies that provide individuals and families with more options and that promote competition, the Chronicle editorialists choose instead to promote the so-called "public option" — a government health insurance program that would be subsidized by taxpayers and laden with mandates.  Rather than trusting the government to contain "uncontrolled costs" and improve efficiency — two things for which the government is not known for being successful — the Chronicle would better serve consumers by advocating reform in the tax system that would end the World War II-era relic of employer-provided health insurance and move instead towards a system where families and individuals choose their own coverage on an open market, spurred by a tax deduction.

Sincerely,
Dave Smith
Houston, TX