If I were in charge of healthcare reform - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 08-01-2009, 08:17 PM

1. I would like to divorce healthcare from employment. I would like a system where each person purchased healthcare for himself. Problem is that I don't know exactly how this could work. The main problem is that you have really sick people whom no one would want to insure. Imagine owning an auto insurance company and being approached by a company putting on a demolition derby at the fair next week. You wouldn't want to insure those cars--guaranteed huge loss. Same with people. I think some politicians are talking about co-ops, but I don't know how they work, and I don't know if they solve this problem.

2. I think, for the sake of justice and equality, that there ought to be a basic minimum standard of healthcare guaranteed by the govt. I'm not sure exactly to what level, and I would require SOME money from everyone that has a dime coming to them from the govt. or elsewhere, but it should cover catastrophic care. Imagine it as the shittiest insurance you can buy. That's what it would be. I want to incentivize people to get better insurance. Go out and work. Make money.

In some ways we already have this basic level of insurance. But it is a patchwork, often funded by local governments. So I'm not proposing anything that is radically different than what already exists to some extent.

For example in Dallas, if you are poor, even if you don't have medicaid, you can get into the county system and receive healthcare. Is it the most efficient system? No. Would most people like to avoid it, if they could? Yes. But it is good care (at least most of the time). It is paid for by local property taxes. More children are born at this county hospital than any other in the country.

08-01-2009, 08:17 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	If I were in charge of healthcare reform 1. I would like to divorce healthcare from employment. I would like a system where each person purchased healthcare for himself. Problem is that I don't know exactly how this could work. The main problem is that you have really sick people whom no one would want to insure. Imagine owning an auto insurance company and being approached by a company putting on a demolition derby at the fair next week. You wouldn't want to insure those cars--guaranteed huge loss. Same with people. I think some politicians are talking about co-ops, but I don't know how they work, and I don't know if they solve this problem. 2. I think, for the sake of justice and equality, that there ought to be a basic minimum standard of healthcare guaranteed by the govt. I'm not sure exactly to what level, and I would require SOME money from everyone that has a dime coming to them from the govt. or elsewhere, but it should cover catastrophic care. Imagine it as the shittiest insurance you can buy. That's what it would be. I want to incentivize people to get better insurance. Go out and work. Make money. In some ways we already have this basic level of insurance. But it is a patchwork, often funded by local governments. So I'm not proposing anything that is radically different than what already exists to some extent. For example in Dallas, if you are poor, even if you don't have medicaid, you can get into the county system and receive healthcare. Is it the most efficient system? No. Would most people like to avoid it, if they could? Yes. But it is good care (at least most of the time). It is paid for by local property taxes. More children are born at this county hospital than any other in the country.