President Obama’s 2012 election victory was perceived, at least by many on the left, as something of a referendum on health care. To the degree that this is accurate (and this is far from a given), conservatives may be wondering what platform, other than being “anti-Obamacare,” they can take up.

In a recently released report, Medicare’s payment advisory commission — MedPAC — offers an idea most conservatives can get behind: Medicare premium support. Conservatives and liberals alike have realized that traditional Medicare is not an efficient or cost-effective way to cover the care that the elderly and disabled will need in the coming years. It makes sense, then, to consider injecting some cost-controls through market-based competition into the program.