The big medical question before the U.S. last week could be stated like this:
Do the medical provisions of the Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill* for the extension of social security$1.8 to $2.7 billion a year to be spent on group medical care for some 110,000,000 U.S. citizensmake good sense?
The arguments of the opposition (principally the conservative American Medical Association): 1) the bill is a threat to freedom because it might restrict a patient's free choice of physicians; 2) it might cut the doctor's income by putting an end to fee-for-service; 3) it might lower...