Posted by
Steve on Monday, November 02, 2009 8:07:48 PM
In response to some comments received from a previous blog, where I disparage Nancy Pelosi’s monstrosity, I am going to say what should be done to solve the healthcare problem in less words than Nancy Pelosi used pages. I thought this would be a great challenge.
The first thing that should be done to solve the healthcare problem is get the cost of health insurance down. That is easily done by repealing all of the required items that are now part of every policy. My wife and I are 60+ years old. We have no need of maternity coverage, yet we pay just the same. Removing the required items, people could choose what they want and need covered.
Second, people should be allowed to purchase their health insurance from any authorized provider in the United States, even across state lines. This will introduce market forces on insurance. The insurance companies will compete for everyone’s business and the costs will come down.
Third, there needs to be tort reform. There are too many people that are trying to get rich by suing doctors. Putting limits on how much attorneys can receive as well as how much the aggrieved person can recover would reduce the malpractice insurance for doctors. This would enable the doctors to charge lower fees to their patients. This would also reduce costs to the public and help reduce insurance costs.
Also, as the cost of insurance and doctor visits are reduced, the quality of care will go up. That is because market forces have been re-introduced to the system. For those who doubt that this would happen, just look at what has happened with Lasik eye surgery. It used to cost three to four times what it does today and was of a much poorer quality. This all happened because it was to the doctors benefit to reduce their price and increase their quality. The same thing would happen with healthcare.
Government would have a limited role to licensing doctors and other healthcare professionals. This will insure that those that treat us are competent. The government should also be involved in licensing the people that sell health care insurance. This will insure that people are paying for a product that will deliver what it is supposed to do. Other than that, government should stay out of the health care business. I know that we have the VA system for veterans that should continue. Medicare should be targeted for elimination as it would not be needed after all the reforms kicked in. But, people have used it for years and so it will take some time for them to get off of the system.
There, I used less than 500 words to describe exactly what should happen to reduce healthcare costs in the country. If these reforms are enacted, healthcare would be affordable for everyone. It will never happen because of the reduced role for government.
I am not an expert in economics or medicine, so this is quite an experiment for me. I do know a little about medicine as my students generally end up as nurses. That means I have to know what the requirements are to be a nurse and also the prospects for employment. So, that does give me a little insight into the world of medicine. But it is no more than a peek. I do have some friends that are doctors, but we do not talk about medicine as a general rule. Translating that into English, I know little more than the average person. I hope that this plan is good. It is probably not unique. I gleaned it from the many sources I get my information from.