Health care, while seemingly always on everyone's mind, has typically been a second tier issue in major election years. My sense is that this is still true (I'd guess the economy, the Iraq Conflict and immigration comprise the top three voter concerns), but perhaps less so than in previous years.
Even so, it's not a stretch to say that 2008 promises to be an interesting year for health policy. Check out the following:
1) The Healthcare Economist has an excellent series of posts comparing the health care proposals of leading Republican and Democrat candidates. The posts include some well-constructed tables (that could stand alone if need be) and insightful commentary/analysis. I classify these as "must reads."
2) Neoclassical and behavioral economics clash once again, this time in the form of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama! Check out this NYT article for more (thanks to John for sending the link over). The main thrust is that Hillary's health care plan hinges on rational responses to incentives while Obama apparently thinks simpler, less confusing policies are the way to go. I'm not too sure how salient the behavioral versus neoclassical divide is with respect to the merits of each health care plan, but its nice to see this stuff in the news.
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