The easy solution - Health savings accounts
Structure them to be portable between jobs, allow businesses to fully deduct the cost of administration, allow businesses to deduct the cost of any contributions to the plan. And to encourage businesses to hire full time by the following:
- allow an extra 2% deduction of the employee’s salary for salary positions that are 40+ hrs per week
- if the business contributes $100 or more each month, then allow the business an extra deduction of 2% of the employee’s salary
- allow the HSA accounts to be used to pay premiums, prescriptions, deductibles, etc.
- allow funds to be invested into investment options that can be liquidated to cash in 15 days
- set up a national opt-in insurance exchange where different types of standardized plans are offered.
That is a great idea! I’d also add carryover of any balances from one year to the next. (Or did I miss that? Still working on first cup of coffee here.)
You are on the right insurance track.
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The main problem with the US Insurance Market is that it has been very tightly controlled by Federal and State Laws for decades.
Government Control increases cost to the consumer.
The Federal Laws prohibit competition, sales and tort reform across State Lines.
Thus, Insurance Companies have been forced for decades to hire platoons of permanent workers to make sure all of their policies are consistent with the ever-changing Federal Regulations on Insurance Companies.
The cost of the policy must then go up to pay for the wages, and office space for these regulation-staff members, plus annual increases in cost to the policy holder for payment to the staff members who received an annual company raise.
In a private company, there is only “Profit” or “Loss” at the end of each year. The private company equivalency of the politician’s National debt is what the private company calls “Bankruptcy.”
Since each State has its own Insurance Bureau, the consumer (=policy holder) also must pay for:
1.) that State Bureau’s staff that must be hired to be sure that the Federal Regulations are consistent with what the States politicians have recently added to the State’s Regulation Burden.
Insurance is thus a haven for endless increases in policy premiums due in large part to the Federal and State Regulations and the required staff to regulate the regulations;
2.) And the extra platoons of permanent workers that each insurance company has to hire to be sure of all 50 State conformity with each of their policies.
My point is that the consumer is paying far more than is needed for Federal and State Regulations that are no common-sense regulations.
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Back in the day if one broke the Law, a trial was held and that person went to jail.
In our PC World, nobody goes to jail because “All we need to do is to create a new Law or Regulation, so this terrible situation NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.”
In a freer Insurance market, with minimum Federal and State Regulations, our new jails would be ahead of building schedule, incompetent Insurance Companies would be bankrupt, and Insurance policy rates would be so low that even “the poor” could afford to pay their own way for non Government, hospital pro bono Health Insurance Policy.
Whatever the US Federal Government touches with its Federal Fecal Finger always increases our taxes, and National Debt Burden on those of us who are TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY.
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My concern is that our Federal politicians will miss this golden opportunity to “Meat Clever” the Federal Insurance Regulations down to a workable level, and thus allow the cost of an insurance policy to float with the supply and demand of a freer Insurance Market.
Senators Cruz and Lee have a great opportunity now to do so, and we should “encourage” them to do so.