Proposals for the Health Care Reform:

1) Make it easier for individuals and families to buy their own policies and even to pool their own resources in ways that makes sense to them. The Knights of Columbus started as a life insurance association; we could have many more associations like that based on faith or geography or interest where people could pool their recourses in a way that makes sense to them. This has to be made easier. Groups must be able to sell insurance across state lines. 2) Give people incentives to spend their money wisely. The way it works right now, the employer provides each person with supposed benefits and there is this feeling that it is free so you might as well use it. 3) We have tremendous problems with Medicare and Medicaid. We need to fix those programs first, and work toward reform, which is not even mentioned by our law makers. There is an irony to think that only the government can do it.

What will probably happen is that there will be a last minute offer to distract the American people from the huge government takeover and then after it is passed all the power will be given to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to do as she pleases. “Legislative Strategy? Write Incomprehensible Language?”; (http://www.cathmed.org/). See also “Health Reform Hub” at http://www.healthreformhub.org/.

My suggestions would be this:

Medical Liability Reform is needed. Costs from lawsuits drive up the cost of care. And defensive medicine required in today's environment addes more to the cost of care.
Allow Individuals who buy health insurance for themselves and their families the same tax advantages that employers currently enjoy.
Set a sunset date, perhaps 7 years in the future, when employers who provide health insurance to their employees will no longer get any tax advantages.
Allow all Americans to have Health Savings Accounts, with tax free contributions to those accounts to pay for medical care, prescription and over the counter drugs, and any required medical supplies and products. This money can be spent on co-pays and deductibles.
Disallow any tax advantages for any “Health Insurance” with a yearly deductible of less than $2,500.
Allow interstate business associations to set up health insurance plans under ERISA. Small businesses could pool their resources and combine their risk pools to get insurance rates comparable to large businesses. This would work well to reduce costs during the interim period until the tax advantages for Employers sunset.
Allow interstate clubs and organizations with individual members to set up health insurance plans under ERISA. This would give individuals an alternative to the market in their home state, promoting interstate competition and lowering costs.

The Republicans have gone half way on some of these items. But they also go in the wrong directions.

Comprehensive, low deductible, low co-pay insurance policies are part of the problem. Employer provided health insurance is another part of the problem.

Those two items separate consumers from payers, and allow consumers to act irresponsibly because they are spending “other people’s money.”

From the desk of
cc2k:

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