Proponents of the current health care proposals charge that those who oppose these proposals only want the status quo. No honest Democrats have stepped forward to admit the truth that opponents of these measures have been offering alternatives and decrying the status quo. The leader among dishonest Democrats today is none other than President Obama (whom I have tried to refrain from specifically criticizing) who not only will not admit the truth about opponents of his preferred reform package but who goes further by holding “town hall meetings” where no opportunity for discussion is even considered (as do many of his followers) – these are not chances to discuss and enlarge public understanding of the issue, they are opportunities to indoctrinate the masses one town hall at a time.
Nothing I have said excuses the behavior of some protesters at many town hall meetings who are equally disinterested in any actual discussion, but any real leader would have to rise above such rabble and be willing to engage and explain rather than pontificate and cajole.
Among those speaking against the current reform proposals there is a common belief that has never been addressed by backers of the proposals – that the current prescription will actually be worse than the status quo (which they agree is not an acceptable situation). Not only are they speaking against the dangerous potential of the current direction but here are a few of the ideas that are not being offered to considered by our current leaders.On June 23, 2009 Senator Jim DeMint offered the Health Care Freedom Plan. More than a month ago I offered a simple proposal to expand individual choice, lower costs, and reduce government spending. On August 11th John Mackey offered a proposal in the Wall Street Journal based on the experience of Whole Foods Markey Inc. (he’s the CEO) in lowering their health care costs while improving the coverage they offered to employees. On August 13th I found another plan outlined by Matt Piccolo. Let’s start with the shortest proposal (mine) and see what these four independent approaches have to offer.
My first proposal was to tax employer-sponsored health benefits and make individual health insurance premiums tax free. Piccolo agrees with me but DeMint and Mackey both disagree with taxing employer health benefits and Mackey supports making private health insurance premiums tax free. DeMint also proposes a $2000 individual and $5000 family voucher for those without access to employer sponsored coverage. I presume he means to replace Medicaid/Medicare with those vouchers.
My second proposal was to make government health plans (yes, that would include Medicaid and Medicare) only cover emergency and preventive care – with no copay for preventive care. Piccolo says that government plans should be phased out while Mackey generally states that Medicare needs to be reformed.
My third proposal was to reduce the requirements on private insurance plans to the level of government plans. Mackey agrees with this.
My final proposal was to make all out of pocket health care expenses tax deductible – including premiums, but excluding strictly elective procedures – essentially this would give any savings account some of the advantages of an Health Savings Account (HSA). DeMint says that HSA’s should be able to be used to pay insurance premiums, Mackey argues that there should be fewer obstacles to the creation of HSA’s, and Piccolo supports HSA’s as well as a guaranteed medical loan program.
Mackey, DeMint, and Piccolo all argue in favor of allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines. I agree that this would make the market more competitive. They also each argue for tort reform to limit the financial risk that doctors face in lawsuits. My understanding of this is that the cost of medical malpractice lawsuits is only a token amount compared to other areas of waste in the system. For me they are not a real priority but I see no reason to avoid tort reform. Finally, Mackey and DeMint each push for greater transparency to the consumer on the costs of health care procedures. I think this would naturally result from the use of high deductible and catastrophic insurance – which is what I propose government insurance to become.
DeMint’s plan also explicitly protects the right of consumers to keep their existing insurance and proposes block grants to let states figure out ways to cover those with pre-existing conditions. He proposes to pay for this by repealing TARP and requiring that TARP money already paid out be repaid within five years.
Mackey also proposes that tax forms should provide an easy way for people to make tax deductible contributions to help people without insurance who do not qualify for any government insurance programs (Medicaid, Medicare, or SCHIP).
Mackey closes with this crucial observation:
. . . every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.
Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.
Health-care reform is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible, and that we have the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health.
None of this sounds to me like people who want to maintain the status quo.
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