Wednesday, August 12, 2009

8 Ways To Improve Healthcare, No Effect on Deficit

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:

1. Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).

2. Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.

3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.

4. Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.

5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

6.  Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.

7. Enact Medicare reform.

8. Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

~
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey in today's WSJ

Originally posted at Carpe Diem.

9 Comments:

At 8/12/2009 8:50 AM, Blogger Angie said...

I like most of the ideas, but I think that requiring coverages of certain conditions is a state's right issue. I don't think the federal government should meddle with that.

 
At 8/12/2009 9:30 AM, Blogger The Daily Pander said...

Instead of removing all mandates, just allow the s/b/s sale of mandate free policies in which employers pay for the mandate free version, employees at their discretion pay for the delta. That's possible in addition to, not in lieu of, all the other goodies PBO wants

 
At 8/12/2009 9:42 AM, Blogger The Daily Pander said...

Or allow the sale of mandate free policies and let employers, employees and individuals decide for themselves what they want.

Gov't should tackle the uninsurable (vs. uninsured) problem (e.g. the five year old with a known, costly terminal problem who's parent just got fired).

http://rightsideproject.blogspot.com

 
At 8/12/2009 12:25 PM, Anonymous Norman said...

One thing that Medicare mandates is that the 'extra' coverage from private insurers consists of 5-8 plans each with different coverages that each insurer sells. So, to be able to compare private insurers even now it would be great that they offerred like plans so we wouldn't have to read the small print regarding what their policies cover. They could also try to sell what ever other plans they might want to but 5-8 basic plans would be mandatory.

 
At 8/12/2009 1:53 PM, Anonymous EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy said...

Angela said... I like most of the ideas, but I think that requiring coverages of certain conditions is a state's right issue. I don't think the federal government should meddle with that.

I disagree it is an individual rights matter. The state is preventing me from making a contract with my insurer that does not cover infertility treatment or chiropractic, or, or, or...

Why the hell do they get to do that?

 
At 8/12/2009 3:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmmm... these are good thoughts. My high-fructose corn syrup euphoria is wearing off, I've lost the power to mock. Maybe I won't have to share the death queue with a fellow Canuck.

I'm going to have to go off to a dark corner and cry... one doesn't need the cocaine power of high-fructose "fruity juice" to gain insight.

The man whose common sense is lying on the floor from that bag of fruit juice concentrate=(

 
At 8/13/2009 6:52 AM, Anonymous Ἐγκώμιον Shill said...

"
high-fructose corn syrup euphoria is wearing off, I've lost the power to mock. Maybe I won't have to share the death queue with a fellow Canuck.

I'm going to have to go off to a dark corner and cry... one doesn't need the cocaine power of high-fructose "fruity juice"
"

A caloric pint of point well taken

Is it always better to to look further up the pipe for a culprit, still in the bud? But when we are unable to legislate or regulate the immorality of candy ingestion thus how we can presume to regulate the dental industry of patching up the cavities inside the dead-heads who ate the candy?

"It would be simpler to put candy on illegal drug list."

"Ah! Marie Antoinette, they get what they get because of their sweet-tooth habits."

"Why not feed them roasted sugar free rabbits?"

 
At 8/13/2009 11:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Ἐγκώμιον Shill, for a country that went all ruskie during the Prohibition, it would be indeed hard to legislate the so-called "fine" culinary tastes DQ offers to our stubborn, fat ass Texan friends; and 'sides, when one considers how watered-down the American brewery industry became after Prohibition, I'd hate to see how much more radioactive our Hot Pockets would become if our "food" industry was stifled.

Salt, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil - just a sample concoction you can throw into any pile of saw dust=)

Billy Mayes here!!

 
At 3/01/2010 5:32 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Charles Manson has a right to health care. If he has a right to health care so do all of us.

 

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