“This is a conservative wish list,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, as he cheerfully ticked off the main provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Republican bill to replace Obamacare, at his press conference last Wednesday. So, what’s not to like?

Plenty, it turns out. The problem with this particular wish list is that it fails to provide a coherent framework for curbing the relentless rise in medical prices—the same inflation that plagued Democrats at the voting booth since 2010. During Mr. Obama’s eight years in office, the medical cost trend—the prices that insurers pay for health services, drugs and devices—rose 79 percent. These increases were passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums and cost sharing. Annual health bills for a working family of four soared by nearly $11,000.