Its interesting watching the healthcare debate. The biggest problem is the runaway costs, yet the current proposals do little if anything to reign in spending.

Of course, politicians always like to act like they’re giving you something, before they take it away. What will they be taking away? Oh, our money in the form of higher taxes and Higher Premiums, and our access to quality health care in the form of long waits and other rations on care.

So let’s all ponder how higher premiums will affect the number of uninsured. Currently, a third of all policies sold to people who previously had no coverage are high-deductible (low cost) HSA-qualified plans.

That’s about 1 million people who now have coverage because of availability of these plans.

Then, the people who have HSA plans like this become smarter shoppers. That’s one of the reasons that Walmart is charging into the medical clinic business.

Naturally, Walmart can provide services less expensively than most, with more convenience. This increases competitive pressure, and pushes down costs for all of us.

That is the kind of common sense policy we should be encouraging.