Legislating medical care

This week the news is full of “Ryancare,” “McConnellcare,” and “Trumpcare.” To me, it appears that Republicans are scrambling to produce anything that they can call “repeal” or “repeal and replace” and pass.

So I back away and start asking questions: If the Congress were legislating for an activity such as medical care, which is vitally important to all of us, makes up about one sixth of our economy, and is a complex institution in its own right, what would we expect from Congress in the way of knowledge, deliberation, care, and attention? What would a good effort look like?