Health Care (Policy Proposal #11)

Proposed Policy

A) We need to set-up a common pool that allows the purchase of health care insurance. This can be done by state. No one should be denied. This pool would be an addition to the present system we have in place, not a replacement. Every insurance company that wants to do business in the state would be required to be in the pool. For high health risk individuals there would be a lottery to distribute the risk among the insurance companies. The state would set minimum requirements for standard insurance coverage. The pooled insurance would allow choice and not be an HMO. Payments would be monthly and renewed yearly.

B) Each individual in the health care pool would have a portion of their health care payment deposited into an account. An electronic card would be issued to each individual. Individuals would then use this card for the first $1000 in medical payments to health care providers. 50% of the unused balance would then be returned to the person at the end of the year. The insurance company would keep the other 50%. This would be paid and reset on a yearly basis.

C) Insurance companies would publish standard medical fees by region. If an individual can shop or negotiate lower rates than the published amount, 20% of the cost savings could be disbursed to the insured. This would be offset against any higher costs paid above the published amount. The total rebate cannot exceed 25% of the yearly premium. This would be paid and reset on a yearly basis.

D) The insurance company will mail a summary of all medical bills paid quarterly by the insurance company to the insured person for review. Any excess charges that can be recovered by the insurance company would allow 20% of the cost savings to be disbursed to the insured. The total rebate cannot exceed 25% of the yearly premium. This would be renewed yearly.

E) Increase the pool of doctors and other high cost health care workers through education incentives.

F) Allow a lower corporate tax rate for companies that provide health care coverage for all their employees.

G) The drug companies must sell their goods at a price the same or lower than it sells in other markets. (other countries)

What would this accomplish?

A) Insurance is all about spreading the risk. We need to increase the pool so that individuals, small companies, large companies, and government can have access to affordable health insurance at the same rate.

B) This will encourage shopping for the best price and to only use medical services when truly necessary.

C) This would give you an army of consumers looking for the best price. This will introduce competitive pricing pressure into the medical market. With enough “competitive shoppers”, the standard rate could be decreased each year if the average price could drop rather than increase.

D) This will allow the insured person to review his billing. It gives incentives to look for abuses and errors. This lowers the cost by the health insurance provider.

E) This can create a more competitive work environment. Every other worker in this country is subjected to competitive wage pressures.

F1) This will reward good business practices and increase the pool of insured people. By increasing the pool of insured people we are reducing the cost on government and lowering the cost of health insurance.

F2) Corporate tax rates are high. Lowering the corporate tax rate to companies providing insurance to all their employees is a better alternative to reducing corporate tax rates across the board.

G) The drug lobby says it is unsafe to buy their drugs from foreign markets, so then they must provide the same prices so we do not purchase drugs from outside our border. The USA market must not be used as a profit center to subsidize other markets.

Commentary

This model has the potential to contain the runaway health care costs while increasing access. The government could buy insurance from this pool for disadvantaged people rather than running their own system. This would reduce government administration costs and reduce bureaucracy.

This model requires a very detailed analysis before implementation, but the concept is there to get the job done. If this model is not a success, it could be discontinued without effecting the system we presently have in place. If the model is a success, the model can be expanded instead of going to a socialized medical system.

Ideally, a model with a very high deductible would perform the same function. However, many people have little savings to make this a viable plan option.

We should have a more competitive corporate tax rate. By providing a lower corporate tax rate to companies that provide health insurance coverage is a win-win proposal.