Health Care Reform
Under the cut are 8 reforms that the author and I believe would do more to reform health care and lower costs than a 1018 page bill that is tailored to expanding government and giving politicians more power over us.
From: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
1. Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
2. Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
4. Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
6. Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
7. Enact Medicare reform. ???--
8. Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
I know the author has a commercial interest in writing the op-ed but that aside, what I would like to hear from you folks is why these would or would not work. I think the first six are spot-on.
The seventh needs to be done, but how? The author does not elaborate and I'm stumped..
Number eight sounds good but the people have lost the habit of giving since the government took over what was formerly a function of charities. Raising 10s of billions of dollars will not happen except possibly as a tax credit.
From: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
1. Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
2. Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
4. Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
6. Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
7. Enact Medicare reform. ???--
8. Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
I know the author has a commercial interest in writing the op-ed but that aside, what I would like to hear from you folks is why these would or would not work. I think the first six are spot-on.
The seventh needs to be done, but how? The author does not elaborate and I'm stumped..
Number eight sounds good but the people have lost the habit of giving since the government took over what was formerly a function of charities. Raising 10s of billions of dollars will not happen except possibly as a tax credit.