Big Gov Intrusion in the Meditation App Market?

In the surreptitious public option department, the Defense Department's National Center for Telehealth and Technology seems to have pushed its way into an apparently booming market for meditation-focused smartphone apps.

A Wednesday New York Times story on the growing meditation app market was the site's most emailed story Thursday morning.

The Times story does not mention the Defense Department's Breathe2Relax app, launched in June, which seems very similar to the free and paid apps listed in the story.

A press release issued in connection with Breathe2Relax's launch touts the app as designed to help relieve anxiety for vets suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there's nothing PTSD-specific about the interface itself -- calming scenes of meadows and streams, pleasant music and a woman's soothing voice coaching the user to slowly inhale and exhale in time with an hourglass.

No response yet from critics of government involvement in healthcare. They seem to be otherwise engaged.