Editor's note.

• Author: Dorn, J.A.
• Position: Brief Article

This special issue of the Cato Journal examines how Washington policymakers have been Making a Federal Case Out of Health Care, particularly since passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Did HIPAA's insurance reforms make private health insurance more portable, accessible, and affordable? Will its promises to protect personal health information preserve privacy without unduly impairing medical treatment and research? Has HIPAA effectively reduced health care fraud and abuse without arbitrarily criminalizing billing disputes and other honest errors in medical practice? Will the federal government's role in health insurance regulation continue to expand? Does HIPAA...