What to replace Obamacare with

Don Surber's Blog ^ | November 17, 2014 | Don Surber

[Lizavetta]

Our betters in government have tinkered so much with health insurance that people like me are completely priced out of the market.

They have refused to pass tort reform, refused to let you buy out of state, refused to keep illegals from using hospitals without paying, etc. etc.

I am a self-employed person and cannot pay $600 a month or more for insurance and I make too much to qualify for Medi-Cal. There is no other option for me, period.

And no one will convince me that they didn't plan it to be that way, either.

[Hoodat]

Replace it with a free open market. And make all medical expenses (including insurance premiums) deductible.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Undo the Medicare cuts.

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Again, government IS the problem.

First, we already have a law from 1890, just enforce the Sherman Act. Why should insurance companies enjoy exemption from monopoly activity? Typically an insurance co-payment equates with the actual cost of provided procedure.

Second, we already have a law from 1914, just enforce the Clayton Act. Why should health care providers enjoy exemption from anti-competitive practices, such as posted prices? We ought to know how much two stiches in a non-life threatening situation might cost before we give consent for services.

Next, repeal the Volmstead Act. All medications ought to become over the counter medications instead of insurance prescription candy. A senior citizen ought not need a prescription to maintain their monthly dose of heart medications.

Then, tort reform. Ambulance chasers ought to bear personal responsibility for the costs associated with advancing frivolous lawsuits. Loser lawyer personally pays defendants damages, from attorney’s own pocket, otherwise attorney forfeits license to practice.

[okie01]

Insurance companies want monopolies. That’s how they can make the most money.

That's how an individual company can make the most money. But not how an industry can make the most money.

I'd still want to hear how the industry would organize the market (with any proposal resulting in a monopoly instantly discarded). They will know a helluva lot more about what would work than any academic or bureaucrat would.