Excellent article here on how the free market system can fix our healthcare and our lawmakers can butt out of it and go back to protecting our country. The article is from Cato Institute.
Yes, Mr. President: A Free Market Can Fix Health Care
by Michael F. Cannon
In March 2009, President Barack Obama said, "If there is a way of getting this done where we're driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate, and have choice of doctor, have flexibility in terms of their plans, and we could do that entirely through the market, I'd be happy to do it that way." This paper explains how letting workers control their health care dollars and tearing down regulatory barriers to competition would control costs, expand choice, improve health care quality, and make health coverage more secure.
First, Congress should give Medicare enrollees a voucher and the freedom to choose any health plan on the market. Vouchers would be means-tested, would contain Medicare spending, and are the only way to protect seniors from government rationing.
Second, to give workers control over their health care dollars, Congress should reform the tax treatment of health care with "large" health savings accounts. Large HSAs would reduce the number of uninsured Americans, would free workers to purchase secure health coverage from any source, and would effectively give workers a $9.7 trillion tax cut without increasing the federal budget deficit.
Third, Congress should break up state monopolies on insurance and clinician licensing. Allowing consumers to purchase health insurance licensed by other states could cover one-third of the uninsured without any new taxes or government subsidies.
Finally, Congress should reform Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program the way it reformed welfare in 1996. Block-granting those programs would reduce the deficit and encourage states to target resources to the truly needy.
The great advantage of a free market is that innovation and more prudent decisionmaking means that fewer patients will fall through the cracks.
1 comment:
Allowing insurance to compete nationwide is an idea that has been around for a while and makes sense. That POLS have not admitted their regulation of the industry has contributed to the problem points to the stupidity of adding more with so-called reform.
As much as liberals enjoy dismissing the Reagan legacy and as much as I believe conservatives overstate the accomplishments, one thing is certain. His leadership provided more benefit to America than anyone since.
Release the hounds! Allow the free market to operate as designed. Reduce the influence of flawed policy from political agendas and let Americans do what they do best. innovate and succeed.
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