I would favor the establishment of a publicly owned, non-profit insurance company which provides a lower tier, basic healthcare insurance. Private insurance companies could continue to sell policies for upper tier coverage that fill in gaps from the basic plan.
Every American would be required to purchase this basic, affordable coverage. The cost of the policy should have an upper end cap and progress downward based on income level to the point of free for poverty level incomes. This would put all Americans in a single group fund, which will create economy of service.
It would be vitally important that the funds generated in this entity not be mingled with the general treasury funds, as done with the social security funds. There would be years that this insurance group would have a surplus and years with a deficit. In surplus years, the cost of the policies should be lowered. In deficit years it should be increased. If the funds go into the general treasury, the cost of these policies would never go down. They would only increase when deficit years roll around. One deficit years would create an increase, which might be followed by 4 or 5 surplus years. The government would enjoy the surplus, then increase the cost again in year 6 because of another deficit. This is one of the major problems with the social security system. The government uses the social security system as a revenue source. There is a major danger of the same thing happening if a national healthcare system is established. Americans would find the cost of healthcare continuously going up if it becomes a general treasury item.
Eliminating the profit from a basic health plan could lower the cost of insurance 20% or more. With a group that includes every American, we could see a 40% drop in insurance cost. Keeping upper tier insurance available thru private health plans would keep the medical industry vibrant.
2007-04-11
02:13:21
·
3 answers
·
asked by
Perplexed Bob
5
in
Politics