Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGame
I won't defend against those points. What happend happend..
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Nice.
Well, since I have previously spent all of my time looking backward and being a nay-sayer, here is my proposal for health reform:
Bond's Proposal for Health Care Reform
This proposal strives to meet three key goals:
1) Not to force health insurance on any citizen who does not wish to be insured.
2) Lower the average premium of private insurance so that it is more affordable for citizens.
3) Form a mutual insurance company for those citizens who cannot afford normal private insurance.
The goals will be achieved in the following manner:
1) Not to force health insurance on any citizen who does not wish to be insured.
Self-explanatory.
2) Lower the average premium of private insurance so that it is more affordable for citizens.
The following actions will dramatically lower the average, much-inflated, premium for citizens:
- Institute a federal cap on medical malpractice, adjusted accordingly per state economic differences.
- Allow for interstate competition between health insurance companies (eliminating protectionism automatically drives down prices).
- Fix the disproportionate reimbursement scheme by the government via Medicaid for private hospitals and insurance companies. This will be done by substantially reforming Medicaid, which will soon (or this may already be the case) no longer be able to cover its liabilities.
- Stop providing care to illegal immigrants. Provide absolutely no luxury care to illegal immigrants, then deport them. Provide care that is capped in an emergency situation. After they have recovered, deport them.
All of these changes will drive down insurance premiums, which will allow more citizens to purchase insurance.
3) Form a mutual insurance company for those citizens who cannot afford normal private insurance.
The mutual insurance company for low-income earners will be run just like any mutual insurer is, except for a few key differences. First, the mutual insurance will receive an initial injection of capital that will keep it running for two years by the federal government. This will be the level of the government's role within the mutual insurer. The capital provided by the government will cover administrative costs, and meet any other costs in excess of the premiums received.
The mutual insurance company will be for catastrophic care. This will not be a luxury insurer, but rather a basic insurer for those who cannot afford normal private insurance.
The mutual insurance company will be jointly run by local private charities within states, with a central office in Washington, D.C., that will only aggregate the finances of the insurer. Charities have played a historically important role throughout health care's history (the Catholic church invented modern health care). The charities will use the government's money to overcome unforeseen costs for the first two years, and then rely solely on donations and fundraising efforts to cover the additional cost.
Once capital can be raised in excess of a required reserve to meet unforeseen costs that cannot be met by the premiums, the mutual insurance company will be begin to pay back the federal government for the initial capital.