Medicare officials theorize that doctors have gotten more productive over time—and therefore do not need to be paid as much for each unit of work. That conclusion is wildly detached from reality.

Unable to make any meaningful advancements in Congress, progressives now take their single-payer push to blue states. But any way you slice it, universal coverage comes with waiting lists, doctor shortages, and lower access to care.

Obamacare made affordable, limited-benefit coverage largely unavailable—then relied on subsidies to conceal that fact. Now that Americans can see the true cost of coverage, policymakers should restore choice and access to lower-cost catastrophic options.