How Health Care Should Work
SEARCH BLOG: HEALTH CARE
I've been involved with a group of retiree volunteers who have created an information resource for other retirees who are desperately trying to comprehend the Medicare and supplemental insurance maze. It gives me a great appreciation for where everyone may be headed and the millions of confused souls that will create.
In an email exchange with one of the volunteers, I said what follows after receiving this link to an online article in The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article_
John,John added, "And, while you're at it, allow competition for health care across state lines."
I have considerably different views from those being argued on either side of the health care debate. I believe this whole problem could be solved with a simple re-write of the tax laws.It is the tax code that created this mess. Change the tax code to rectify it. Those who claim it is unfair would not say that with regard to a home or car or vacations or dining out. By creating tax credits that roll over, high expenses in one year could be tempered by tax reductions. Pay the money for catastrophic insurance coverage rather than the more expensive vehicle model.
- Eliminate the business expense write-off for health care. This would eliminate health care as a benefit and allow the employers to either pocket the difference or pay their employees better wages. Employers who pocketed the difference would likely find themselves losing key employees over time.
- Allow all individuals to take a tax credit for the full amount of their medical expenses with the exception of the cost of insurance. Credits would be allowed to roll over to the following year. Credits could also be used against estate taxes. This would push the marketplace toward self-rationing of health care and the purchase of higher deductible health insurance [catastrophic].
- Individuals who seek health care and claim inability to pay will be subject to a Human Health Services audit prior to receiving any financial assistance. If you can afford a TV, iPod, and a car, you can pay for your doctor visit,
- Under no circumstances will any non-citizen illegally in this country have their financial obligations related to health care paid for by governments within the U.S. If they are legally in this country under work visas, they are obligated to pay for their own health care expenses. If they are on a student visa, they should seek medical assistance through the school they are attending first, but could be eligible for financial assistance after determination that their families were unable to provide assistance.
And then fix the tort law.
I replied, "That part is a no-brainer. Let the marketplace work. Let the tax code be the way government assists."
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