Just a heads up. I plan to meticulously avoid anything approaching controversy on the Polander Post, but since this is my blog, I am going to speak my mind. I'll still try to do it thoughtfully and with measured words, but if I happen to have a bad day and go off on a rant, just remember that you were warned.
Today...back to health care. I'm not going to comment on the current government-proposed plan other than to say that it won't work, largely because I don't believe it is meant to. Rather, I am going to rise to the challenge by proposing my own solution, which I have gleaned for the most part from greater conservative minds than my own. All the following points came from other people, I am just compiling them.
Tort reform:
---Put generous caps on lawsuit damage awards. Still enough to punish bad behavior, but not so much that it punishes the whole system.
---Impose modest fines and penalties for frivolous lawsuits that are dismissed. If there's even a small risk, most of the gold-diggers will be scared off.
Insurance reform:
---Let insurance companies sell policies in states other than where they are located. This will create immediate competition which means lower costs.
---Allow insurance companies to sell catastrophic policies, rather than the bulky group plans that are currently required because of mandated coverage.
---Remove governments mandates on coverage and allow the previous two points to even be possible.
Tax reform:
---Give doctors that are willing to treat indigents tax breaks commensurate with the amount of services they provide.
---Let employers offer their employees the option to use a tax-exempt health savings account in place of the premiums they currently pay for group plans. The employer could save money by paying a lower amount to the employee, and the employee could purchase their health services in whatever manner they feel is best for them. The effect of this would be to create competition among doctors for the cash customers, and therefore lower their costs as well.
Public option:
---With the above points in place, a public option could be offered for anyone that is unwilling or unable to manage their own health care in that environment. Their would be the understanding that they would get the kind of health care that they are bargaining for- namely the same as they get in Canada or Great Britain.
Those are the basic points. There are other things that could be done, but many of the other things would happen automatically if the market was freed up.
New Zeal Blog Has Moved
13 years ago
