Alternative Healthcare Plan (The One You Don't Hear About) (April 2009)

Took some time to write this one out, bear with me. Feel free to add your opinions.

Health Care should be readily available to everyone
Health Insurance should not be available to everyone. It is Unconstitutional to force others to pay for the choices one makes in life concerning their life and health.It's important that you review how a business works. Here's a refresher course on the subject


The Baucus Health Plan

• Mandated coverage across the board
  
  • Unconstitutional as it forces individuals to be responsible for the life decisions of others
• Tax on Medical Items/Procedures beginning in 2011
  
  • On Class II and above Items/Procedures (priced at $100+) Link here
  • Tax will be applied for each time used
  • Results in higher Employer Contributions on Insurance Premiums
    
    1. Has negative impact on wages and employment
    2. May cause employer to drop private insurance for an affordable plan with less benefits (or pay the government fines if less expensive)
  • Results in higher Consumer Insurance Premiums
    
    1. Has negative impact on Middle Class buying power
    2. Less buying power results in slower moving economy
• Should the Public Option be Included
  
  • Due to tax, Employers and Consumers will drop Private Insurance to either pay the fines for lack of coverage, or join the public option in 2013
  • Private Insurers go under if they can’t force premiums down to compete against government subsidies in 2013
  • Public option becomes the only option unless it’s found that the fines cost less than paying the public option fees. We now have a single-payer system.

Alternative Health Plan

• Allow Tax Credits for Consumers
  
  • Consumers may deduct the annual cost of their insurance from their taxes just as their employers do now
  • This removes the disparity for cost of coverage as an individual compared to being covered through the Employer
  • Resulting with employers no longer needing to provide coverage, freeing up capital to go towards increasing wages, hiring more employees, improving the business
• Remove State Mandates
  
  • Will avoid confusion due to state differences in coverage eligibility
  • Will push Private Insurers to compete with others in states that have better coverage and lower premiums
• Consumers may shop for nationwide options
  
  • Will force competitiveness among insurers, drive down costs and improve benefits as a result
  • Gives the individual authority over what plan they are looking for and the price they are willing to pay for it, no bureaucracy
• TORT Reform
  
  • Will lower the number of frivolous malpractice claims once claims are capped
  • Will lower Malpractice Insurance Premiums for doctors, which will drive down fees for service especially with private practices
  • Lower service fees results in lower medical costs, which results in lower Insurance Premiums across the board
• Create pool for the un-insurable
  
  • Fix Medicare first and foremost
  • Subsidize the uninsurable through the government and allow them access to Medicare
  • Should Private Insurers be forced to lower their standards in order to cover high risk cases, the system will be unsustainable. (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Federal Housing authority are prime examples of the predictable result, a bubble system)
• Consumer access to health history
  
  • Companies like Keas, Inc. (run by Adam Bosworth) are working on a system built to store medical data/history of patients which is inputted on a voluntary basis
  • Doctors will have access to medical records from anywhere in the nation, quicker response due to readily available information on patient
  • Individuals will have unlimited access to their own records, which allows them to make decisions to improve their health
  • Long term effect: Consumers make better health decisions, which will drive down health costs

The result of the Alternative Health Plan:

• The average individual will have the freedom to choose their own health plan and not be limited by employer choice, state/federal limitations and lack of competition.
• The ultimate goal of healthcare for a majority of the population, with little to no impact on the federal deficit due to a minor government presence
• Lower competitive rates based upon economic principles as the system reaches equilibrium
• Will not require a tax increase on any citizen to pay for it, besides the current tax on Medicare and Medicade