Similar to a government catatropic insurance plan... good idea - it has merit. Guidelines around it would take uncertainty out of the mix.
The problem with most 'health care' ideas is they come from groups with vested interest more to do with advantages that help their groups... insurance companies, government control freak socialists, large hospital organizations etc.
On the $600 - should it be rolled over for the following year if it's not used? Maybe invested in a Vanguard Index fund after year four... Or 10% of what's left is sent to the family in check form at the end of the year - with the rest rolled over? That's an incentive for being healthy...
Yeah those are interesting ideas. Why not roll it over? All the small details I may not be in a position to answer. I thought of it sort of like a “charge card” or ATM card or EBT card - you take it to the doctor and the doctor’s charge it to Medicare up to $600 a year. But this idea can take many forms, and sure why not let it roll over? You could even charge it to Medicare or your own private insurer which would then seek reimbursement. Use it for cash, or co-pays, or deductibles.
Yes of course you are right on the money about why things are so complex. The lobbyists for industries are the ones who get heard and they push for legislation that benefit them. This is called “regulatory capture” and it happens with just about everything Congress and the federal agencies do.
Rare is the public servant who thinks only of what is best for the people. The 2 party system has devolved to where now party takes priority over policy and partisanship take priority over principle. The people are pickled. Some of these problems are a lot easier to fix - this thread has 3 or 4 market-based solutions to problems that people are demagoging in their campaigns for office. But they don’t need a total overhaul to fix these problems as mentioned - 1) a law preventing anyone from being bankrupted by medicine 2) an FDIC type system to insure the providers from excessive loss from non-payment for those protected by #1 3) Market based community clinics with low cost preventive care programs 4) $600 a year to cover preventive care or other health care costs. Bam. The 4 biggest problems, besides uninsured, are solved.
Obamacare was just ridiculously complex. I read a brief summary of Obamacare that made me laugh: 1) Problem is not enough people are insured. So 2) We cancel everyone’s insurance. Then 3) We jack up the price of insurance so we can cover the costs to get the previously uninsured to be insured at the expense of those who were cancelled. 4) Then get the people who were previously insured to pay the higher price for the insurance they were forced to cancel. So convoluted. Damage 150 million private insurance holders to fix a problem of 20 or 30 million uninsured. As you said, its about control. Not about sense and sensibility.