John Goodman from the National Center for Policy Analysis presents ten alternative reforms that put power in the hands of patients.
In a recent article, John Goodman outlines Ten Ten Small-Scale Reforms for Pre-Existing Conditions.
He says the following about the suppression of the critical price system in current proposals:
Most proposals for dealing with the problems of pre-existing conditions would completely divorce health insurance premiums from expected health care costs, requiring health plans to enroll individuals regardless of their health status.
Instead of suppressing the price system, following are 10 ways of dealing with this problem that make greater use of it.
1. Encourage portable insurance – allowing employees to keep insurance coverage across employers/jobs.
2. Allow special health savings accounts (HSAs) for the chronically ill – this would empower these patients to manage their own budgets and decide for themselves who should provide their health care.
3. Allow special needs health insurance – allow plans to specialize in the treatment of one or more chronic conditions.
4. Allow health status insurance – insurance that covers premium increases with changes in health status if patients switch plans.
5. Allow self-insurance for changes in health status – allows people to save for health care contingencies in an HSA-type account.
6. Give people on their own the same tax break employees get – there is currently almost no tax relief for patients trying to buy insurance in the private market.
7. Allow providers to repackage and reprice their services under Medicare and Medicaid
8. Allow access to mandate-free insurance – mandated services (like obstetric services, counseling, etc.) increase premiums within insurance plans for people who never need these services.
9. Create a national market for health insurance – the ability of patients to buy plans across state lines will increase competition.
10. Encourage post-retirement health insurance – improve soon-to-be-retired patients’ ability to save money for post-retirement health insurance.
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