“In March, Governor Bredesen unveiled ‘Cover Tennessee,’ a new healthcare experiment to insure 600,000 uninsured Tennesseans. Unfortunately, the plan ill expand the power of government and insurance companies while doing little to improve care for the uninsured. The Bredesen plan proposes $1,800 a year policies equally funded by employees, employers and taxpayers. … Bredesen also promises an insurance plan featuring $25 co-pays for ‘routine doctor visits.’ This sounds reasonable when one considers the charges-oftentimes as much as $90-that doctors bill to insurance companies. However, the plan ignores how much producing the billing paperwork for insurance companies inflates healthcare costs. … By cutting out the middleman, cash-only practices can charge less, provide excellent care and still be financially viable. This saves everyone but the insurance companies.” [editor’s note: A recent MFC editorial touted the Bredesen Plan for some of its features, including portability; this piece challenges some of its worst drawbacks.- SAT] (05/30/06)