Any Social solution would add more money and more coverage to the mix. The Status Quo Corporate view sees no need to disturb the excellent bottom line, other than maybe another tax subsidy or two. Real reform involves radical alteration of entrenched special interest market controls. by Gene DeNardo
(libertarian)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Here are a few suggestions that might help remedy our health care situation. The chance that any will be implemented is not good. This is not due to whether they are useful or not, but to the current distorted system which benefits all but the patient. .
The purpose of the health care industry is not to earn the most massive profits or to bring every little test and maintenance procedure to every person. The purpose of the health care system is to care for those who are infirm.
Many of these suggestions involve removing regulatory and governmental agencies. None of these can be implemented without a massive improvement in our system of courts. Our courts must truly bring justice to us, rather than implement political or economic policy. Without a marked improvement of our courts, recommendations that blindly remove regulatory agencies would likely punish those our laws were written to protect.
Insurance
Remove all restrictions and regulations on Health Insurance. Allow any legal contract agreeable between two parties.
Remove all subsidies, deductions and/or tax breaks dealing with the purchase of health insurance. Remove all employer incentives to provide health insurance. Employer provided health insurance should be taxed as any other compensation would be or completely abolish the income tax [just had to get that one in!].
Remove all reserve requirements on the health insurance industry. Remove the State chartered protection of "limited liability" from the insurance industry and all industries. If this is done, there will be little need to monitor reserves.
Purchasing of insurance shall not be encouraged or discouraged by federal law.
Drugs.
Legalize all drugs.
Remove all restrictions and regulations from the production and distribution of drugs.
Eliminate all government created patent protections. Creators/inventors have right to "first sale" and protection from fraudulent and deceptive marketing only. No government enforced future market monopolies or "innovation subsidies".
Licensing.
Remove all licensing requirements and restrictions.
Offer all educational medical programs at reasonable cost in all public institutions of higher education.
Hospitals.
There should be no regulations or restrictions on hospitals and clinics other than existing laws written to protect the individual from harm or injury. Individuals or companies shall be free to open or close hospitals and clinics, hire employees and treat patients as they wish.
Medicare.
Deconstruct Medicare. Medicare should be dismantled, beginning with the young and slowly progressing to the elderly. Those elderly who have contributed and been promised for their entire working life to be protected by this government "insurance", which is reality nothing other than a tax, should not be completely shortchanged. Those paying in but short of retirement age, should be reimbursed their payments and taken off the beneficiary list.
Medicaid.
Medicaid should be adjusted to cover all citizens who are unable to afford emergency care. Ongoing medical problems should be attended to in a way that promotes health but that is both expedient and economical.
Any payment for "social" care should be direct payment to the care giver and/or the care giving institution. Payment should be at a predetermined level. All Medicaid funded care should be exempt from any taxation [and pricing should reflect this], which is a redundant recycling of government funds.
These suggestions would not only drastically alter health care as we know it, but should deflate the non competitive pricing that permeates the entire industry. This should in time bring care within the reach of the vast majority of citizens.
Still, it is doubtful though, that every person would be capable of payment. Although charitable donations would help is this respect, it is also doubtful that charity would be able to compensate for all citizens that found themselves both sick and poor.
Until we have eliminated all wasteful government spending, until we have ceased to spend trillions creating warfare, until we stop spending billions locking up people who have only committed crimes against themselves, until we stop spending billions subsidizing corporate interests and bailouts or until we stop printing trillions of dollars of valueless currency, there can be no argument that we have no money to spend on those who are both indigent and infirm.
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Very good, but only would happen in any libertarian bubble-world. The most likely revision that is within our grasp was written by David Goldhill in the Atlantic, under the segment "Healthcare Killed My Father".
liked some of your suggestions and here is one of my own.
it is nice to see all these companies make so much profit with the country in the state it is. people cant find jobs cant afford health care and still these companies are making millions of dollars each year in profits.
here is a thought for all these so called caring companies who have became the company they are due to their loyal customers. why not take 1/1000 of your yearly profits and put it into a national fund for health care? that is one penny for every ten dollars.
Just the top 100 companies earned over $366,841,799,820.00 in profits. So i guess this tells us all where the welfare of the nation is. Thats right it is stuck in the pockets of all the large companies. I would hope that all the larger companies would want to help out the nation, however as history shows that will not happen willingly.
In the event someone in Congress see's this i would like to suggest this. any company earning over 10 million per year in profit pay .01% toward a national health care fund. Any company with 100 million per year profit pay a .02% toward health care. For the next level the amount would go up to .05% this would cover any company with a profit of $1 billion profit or greater.
It is time that the companies that have grown on the back of the American people be held accountable. Every time wages are raised companies raise their prices to match and sometimes exceed the raise. In doing this nothing changes.
So i present this Suggestion to congress as a way to help the nation. Will the companies complain YES they will. Do i or any other American who has been squeezed dry by these companies care NO we do not.
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