Health Care Solutions

A few days ago, E of The Gerli Life fame posted a blog about a recent surgery and the cost.

It spawned somewhat of an interesting discussion in the comments, and while I am sure that will continue, I thought I would like to summarize some of the things discussed. I think there could be a viable solution out there somewhere, and I think discussions like this get us close.

The biggest problem is that instead of looking at the problem, politicians have polarized it to the extremes. I may blog more on this, because it is just one of many issues they have done this with and then exploit it for selfish purposes.

The problem is that there are a lot of people who do not have health insurance.

Giving free government healthcare to everyone, means people tend to go to the doctor for everything and consequently the system is over burdened and everyone suffers.

There is also the issue of how to pay for such a program, since it would cost a lot to administer.

Deidre then raised an excellent point, that healthcare currently focusses on cure, rather than prevention. It's a lot cheaper to focus on the prevention, and better for the population as a whole.

She suggested a tiered system. Those who can't afford insurance get an subsidized HMO plan, while those who can and want to pay more get a PPO plan.

I have another suggestion... Not that I don't think that one is good.

I'm pretty libertarian in my views, so that side of me just thinks that everyone needs to have the freedom to take care of themselves, unfortunately a fairly signifiant group of people don't and so you and I get to take care of them as well. How about the following program... And I think this might work for a replacement to Social Security as well...

There needs to be a program which guarantee's that everyone can have access to a health plan - kind of a group plan for the nation, so that the burden is born by all. This plan would be a high deductible plan, and would kick in when your healthcare costs for a year go above a certain amount, say $5000.

This plan would also cover all preventative care - annual physicals, well child checkups etc.

Each person who earns an income then pays a percentage of that income for medical. This amount is separate from any health insurance premium. Let's say it's 5%. 4% of that money is put into a persons qualified medical savings plan, the other 1% goes into a general fund for those without medical savings plans. If you don't have a MSA, then the entire amount goes into the general fund. I'm not sure how the general fund would be administered, but at the end of the day, if I work hard, I get to keep my own money to provide for me and my family. When I get older, this money could be used to offset the cost of long term care, and if I pass on, it can be inherited into the MSA's of my heirs, or otherwise absorbed by the general fund.

A medical savings plan is basically a dedicated account where money is put tax free, and can then be used for any medical expense. The idea is that you use that fund to pay for day to day medical expenses,and then the insurance picks up the tab on the big stuff.

It's a bit like car insurance. I fill my car up with gas and take care of regular maintenance, but if I get in an accident, then the insurance kicks in.

So that's my plan. I'm not sure exactly how I'd implement it, but I think it covers most of the bases.