Freedom Solution to Medical Care Issue

Let’s begin by being honest.  There is no health care crisis in America.  It’s just another made up “crisis” to advance the liberal agenda.  The current proposal by the government would be a disaster for individual freedom and would lower the quality of medical care for everyone, while increasing the cost and increasing the waiting time for care.  There is nothing for anyone to like about Obamacare unless you are a politician or a bureaucrat that thinks he knows what’s better for you than you do.

But there are important things that could be done to make medical care better and cheaper.  This is a new look at things.

        1. Tort Reform.  Specifically let’s end punitive damages across the board.  
            The US is the only industrialized nation in the world with punitive 
            damages and that’s the only reason you and I pay more for car 
            insurance, and for other goods and services.  Tort reform is the starting 
            point for lowering the cost of medical care and that’s what Americans 
            care about.  They love their medical care, they just don’t love the rising 
            cost of medical care.

        2. Individual Portability.  Individuals, whether they work for a company or 
            not, should own their own insurance and be able to benefit from it 
            wherever they work.  Competition will provide the best possible quality 
            of insurance for everyone.

        3. Deductibility.  This is the most important and powerful reform that is 
            needed.  I am not suggesting that each person should be able to deduct 
            the entire amount they spend on medical and prescription from their 
            taxable income.  Rather I’m suggesting that they be able to deduct 
            100% of the amount they spend on medical care and prescription drugs 
            from their taxes!  Consider the many positive benefits this would have, 
            including putting more power and more freedom in the hands of the 
            individual.

                    A. Each individual could choose what level of deducibility would be 
                        best for him or her.  In a high percent of the cases, the only 
                        insurance coverage a person would need would be for 
                        catastrophic events and such insurance would cost just a 
                        fraction of what that person is paying for medical insurance 
                        today.  The only losers would be the insurance companies.

                    B. Reduced Bureaucratic Cost.  Under this plan you would pay cash 
                        (check, credit card, etc.) when you visit the doctor, up to the 
                        highest deductible amount.  This simplifies things greatly for 
                        your doctor and dramatically reduces his costs.  Your doctor 
                        would no longer need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on 
                        malpractice insurance (tort reform) or additional tens of 
                        thousands of dollars for staff to fill out forms and wrestle with 
                        the insurance companies.  The result?  The size of your doctor 
                        bills would decrease significantly.  In addition, such reforms 
                        would actually encourage young men and women to enter the 
                        medical profession, instead of Obamacare which would create 
                        a shortage of medical professionals, especially nurses and 
                        doctors.

                    C. Medicare Option.  Individuals on Medicare should be given the 
                        option of simply deducting their medical costs and the cost of 
                        their prescription drugs from their income instead of receiving 
                        Medicare and prescription drug benefits.  This would ensure that 
                        seniors who opt out would no longer have trouble getting 
                        medical care and that they would be welcome as patients who 
                        pay the full cost of their medical care.  Moreover, the quality of 
                        medical care would also increase.  The taxpayers would benefit 
                        greatly as millions of seniors drop out of Medicare and the 
                        federal drug prescription program to gain direct deductibility 
                        from their taxes.  This would be a big step toward saving 
                        Medicare that is currently bankrupt.  It would also dramatically 
                        reduce the cost of the drug prescription program.

        4. Medical Care for Those Who Cannot Pay for It.  The freedom solution to 
            this problem is to allow taxpayers to make contributions to qualified 
            nonprofit foundations that provide care for those who need it.  The 
            deductibility (from taxable income) would be higher than a dollar per 
            dollar donated.  In other words, your gift of $1,000 might allow you to 
            actually deduct $1,500 from your taxable income.  The deductible 
            amount could be adjusted annually up and down to ensure that there 
            are sufficient funds available in qualified nonprofits to care for those 
            who cannot pay themselves.  Such coverage should be limited to those 
            who for no reason of their own simply do not have the funds to pay 
            their medical bills and for their prescription drugs. 

The proposal I have outlined above would not expand government or its control
over your life or mine.  It would increase the quality and quantity of medical
care and it would shrink the cost of medical care dramatically.  This is the kind
of proposal the Republicans should advance to improve what is already the
greatest medical care system in the world.