06/14/10 Stockholm, Sweden – In his most recent weekly column, Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) describes how there’s still a chance to squelch some of the worst parts of Obamacare. Specifically, his least favorite is “the mandate that forces every American either to purchase health insurance or face an IRS penalty.”
Here’s what Ron Paul recommends instead, in his Texas Straight Talk column:
“Instead of mandating the same failed entitlement healthcare schemes that are bankrupting Europe, Congress should fundamentally re-examine the case for free-market healthcare. Our current model, based on employer-provided health insurance, did not arise based on market preferences. On the contrary, it makes no sense to couple health insurance with employment.
“But federal wage and price controls instituted during World War II left employers with no alternative to attract workers in a tight labor market other than offering extra benefits such as health insurance and pensions. Over time these nonwage benefits became the norm, especially since employers could deduct the cost of health insurance premiums from their income taxes while individuals could not. The perverse consequence is that employees lose both their paychecks and their health insurance when they lose their job…
“…In a market system patients likely would pay cash for basic services, while maintaining relatively high-deductible catastrophic insurance for serious illnesses and accidents. The cost of most routine medical care would drop if the patient paid the bill on the spot, especially if doctors no longer needed to employ large staffs solely to deal with insurance and billing.”
Dr. Paul envisions medical coverage where patients pay for their most basic services and gain an appreciation for its value. Medical providers, for their part, can begin to learn and understand what constitutes a reasonable cost. He’s once again sounding the alarm about a broken, government-spawned system, and you can read the details of his suggestions in Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk column on how authoritarianism is bad for your health.
Best,
Rocky Vega,
The Daily Reckoning
Rocky Vega
Rocky Vega is publisher of Agora Financial International, where he advances the growth of Agora Financial publishing enterprises outside of the US. Previously, he was publisher of The Daily Reckoning, and founding publisher of both UrbanTurf and RFID Update -- which he ran from Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico -- as well as associate publisher of FierceFinance. Rocky has an honors MS from the Stockholm School of Economics and an honors BA from Harvard University, where he served on the board of directors for Let’s Go Publications, Harvard Student Agencies, and The Harvard Advocate.
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I agree with Dr. Paul. Employee selected catastrophic insurance would reform health care by placing the power in the hands of the purchaser. Policies structured to meet the needs of each family would reduce costs. Patients paying for the first 1 0r 2 thousand in services would be selective and demand accountability, reducing fraud and overcharging. Now, consider aplying the same program to Medicare and Medicaid. I pay $2000.00 for Medicare supplemental insurance. If Medicare offered a catastrophic plane where I would pay the first $2000.00, I would also be selective in my choices of health care and demand accountability. It is true that the oldest patients would exceed their limits and require Medicare to step in, but the younger members could save themselves and Medicare a great deal of money. Annual physicals would be covered, paid by Medicare to eliminate false savings. Prevention pays. Pre existing conditions for those buying their own policies would require an established time period of illness or handicap to qualify. Waiting until illness or accident strikes would be discouraged. The same basic program could be offered to medicaid patients. A voucher system of funds, depending on age and number in the family, would be available. After the vouchers have been utilized, Medicaid is activated. If the vouchers are not cmpletely utilized a medical savings account would be opened and available for health care not covered by Medicaid. This is a concept in keeping with Dr. Pauls suggestion, but a unique means of reducing Medicare and Medicaid costs as well as reducing fraud and overbilling. Let’s restore choice and power to the patients.