This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In 1976 President Gerald Ford said, "There is no reason that older Americans should have to go broke just to get well or stay well in the United States of America."

Ford was right, but he didn't go far enough. No American should have to go broke to get well.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a market-based step in that direction. The overwrought criticism of the marketplace website's birthing pains is ludicrous.

I registered on the site. In a couple minutes I can now log into Healthcare.gov and am offered 85 plans from six companies competing for my business. I can compare the plans' premiums, deductibles, coverage, provider networks, out-of-pocket maximums, hospital services and other factors.

Health insurance is now sold in a competitive market with readily accessible information and prices are based on supply and demand — a system known as American free market capitalism. Finally, health care reform is at hand in the USA.

Scott Clayton

Sandy