"In countless ways, government has prevented individuals from acting in their own interests without harming others," Graham said. He added that allowing people to act free of government control would improve health care.

His research, which is cited in his latest white paper for the institute, "The 2008 U.S. Index of Health Ownership," details reasons reformers and the general public shouldn't be so quick to impose more government regulation on an industry that is failing under the weight of it already.

The villains in the health-care story aren't the ones who get portrayed as such, Graham said.

Before people get too quick to judge — as they do in survey after survey — and cite health insurers, managed care companies and drugmakers as the least trustworthy organizations in the country, they should understand that the total burden of health regulation in the United States is $170 billion annually, or an average of $1,500 per family.

Health ownership isn't necessarily the end goal of reform but an effort to facilitate citizen understanding and fully appreciate that regulation plays a big role in their ability to engage in health-care services, Graham said.

The system as it stands today is the result of those interest groups that benefit from government intrusion and lobby hard for public policies they favor, he added. Citizens, who ultimately prefer to be left alone, have no real incentives to either inform themselves about the harm being done or to organize against what is being done in the name of the public good.

Graham urged task force members and anyone interested in reform efforts here and elsewhere — "which should be everyone" — to consider two clarifying comments:

"No nation has ever unleashed the forces of market competition on its health-care system," and, "The only constant in health care is the anxious anticipation of change that never actually occurs."

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com