Under this plan, the state could find itself paying more to provide less health care for its citizens.

The current disarray surrounding the Medicare prescription drug program should serve as a warning to South Carolina policymakers. Like South Carolina's proposal, the Medicare prescription drug program is extremely complex and relies heavily on the private sector. Problems with implementation of the new Medicare drug program have left many low-income seniors without needed prescriptions.

South Carolina's waiver proposal is based on the untested and unrealistic assumption that the private sector can quickly jump in and deliver essential health care services to hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians at less cost than the current program without allowing people to fall through the cracks.

It offers an affordable alternative for health care.

It's based on the honor system, but this is one way we have for helping keep our health-care costs down.

The President spent surprisingly little time talking about health care in his address, an issue of primary concern to everyone. But the ideas he did espouse are more about saving money than getting people health care.