Although we can safely disregard the WSJ piece by David Cutler and Brad DeLong on Obama’s health care plan, there is an excellent article on the plan in Health Affairs, and its conclusion is not flattering:

It greatly increases the federal regulation of private insurance but does not address the core economic incentives that drive health care spending. This omission along with the very substantial short-term savings claimed raise serious questions about its fiscal sustainability.

Its ”play or pay” feature and potential for private insurance crowd-out also trouble the authors:

Heavy regulation coupled with a fallback National Health Plan and a play-or-pay financing choice also raise questions about the future of the employer insurance market.

This is a detailed, intelligent though somewhat dry piece. But if you want an honest, realistic assessment of Barack Obama’s health care plan,  it’s well worth a read.