The New York Times
Letter
Published: December 12, 2007
Paul Krugman’s repeated focus on the Democratic presidential candidates’ opinions regarding mandates to buy health insurance is distracting (“The Mandate Muddle,” column, Dec. 7).
The true policy difference on health care reform within the Democratic Party is between those who support incremental reform within our current financing system (represented by Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama) and those who support reforming our current financing system into a single-payer system (represented by Dennis Kucinich).
Mr. Krugman has devoted many columns to extolling the benefits of a single-payer system, so I am not sure why he is repeating politicians’ talking points about minor differences rather than asking why the three leading Democrats aren’t supporting the best reform policy.
Jeremiah Schuur
Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 7, 2007
The writer is an emergency physician.