Non-Socialized Universal Healthcare
The thing about healthcare is that there are many, many ways of doing it. Ours is about the worst. I mean, maybe not the worst possible, but certainly the worst we’re likely to see and still have a whole ton of very competent doctors. (In order to get worse, you pretty much have to be Cuba.)
How do we improve? Well, you’d want minimum care standards. And a dedicated funding stream. The idea is that it should be paid for by the government so that it’s not paid for by an employer– and so that you don’t lose care if you lose your job. After all, in this country, cancer is the number on cause of bankruptcy.
What would make the system perfect? Well, I’m not wild about the idea of the government running the health care system– I do like the idea of private actors competing for customers. Ezra Klein has more: part 1, part 2, and part 3
Maniakes: I’d love to get your take on this…
My first reaction to Klein’s proposal is that the 10% VAT is a dealbreaker to me, but I could get behind a toned-down version of it where the voucher is means-tested to constrain costs to the point where the program could be funded by the Medi* phase-out and the elimination of the tax break for employer-provided health care. I haven’t run the numbers, but I suspect the means-testing would not scale down the program much at all once we’re 10 years or so into the program.
I’d also like the voucher to be refundable, so that if I’d prefer a health care plan that costs less than the voucher I qualify for, I can keep the savings.
The minimum coverage level is another potential sticking point. My finances are not so tight that a doctor’s visit here or there paid out-of-pocket will hurt me particularly badly, so I’d prefer not to “insure” routine expenses. And even unexpected events of moderate expense, I generally prefer to self-insure (I have $1000+ deducatables on my renter’s insurance and my auto insurance). WIll the “minimum coverage level” permit me my current health plan which has a $1200 annual deducatable?
Heck, if I don’t want health care at all for some reason (suppose I’m a Christian Scientist and I believe that if I get sick and die, that’s God’s will and I shouldn’t fight it), can I opt out of the system entirely and keep the cash instead of the voucher? I’m inclined to think that I should.
[...] Non-Socialized Universal HealthcareThe thing about healthcare is that there are many, many ways of doing it. Ours is about the worst. I mean, maybe not the worst possible, but certainly the worst we’re likely to see and still have a whole ton of very competent doctors. … [...]