Health care is a social good that should be free to all. Single-payer coverage lowers health spending and eliminates social and economic health disparities. Prevention generates big savings. Canada provides a desirable blueprint for U.S. health reform.

Roger Battistella, professor emeritus of policy analysis and management, begs to differ.

In his new book, "Health Care Turning Point: Why Single Payer Won't Work" (MIT Press), Battistella argues that conventional wisdom on health policy is badly outdated. Against the backdrop of new demographics and fiscal constraints, he takes on the advantages of single-payer health care and a number of other reform issues.

The contention that the principles of market competition don't apply to health care is nonsense, Battistella writes, and real health care reform will remain elusive until policymakers adopt a pragmatic view. Battistella points to indications that routine expenses increasingly will be paid out-of-pocket or with the assistance of tax-advantaged health savings accounts.

Battistella sees U.S. health care as one of the largest and most backward sectors of the economy. He asserts that the United States can't afford a government takeover of health insurance modeled on Medicare and Medicaid and favors vouchers scaled to income to solve the uninsured problem.