The problem is that’s a fix for the high volume, low cost, side of health care, which entails government having to dig up all that money so it can be sent back. The $600 and below part of health care is actually within the resources of most people.
The real politically sellable issue that’s a risk shared by all, is the expense associated with serious illness or injury. Few average citizens have the ability to handle that major heart attack, kidney failure, traumatic brain injury, by tapping the bank account. Those are all areas where we’re at risk of running out of personal resources far before the disease or injury has run its course. Pretty much every American is at risk of financial destruction in those areas. That’s where there’s arguably a role for wide-spread taxpayer involvement. In fact, many states have had disability coverage for years intended to provide some relief to those medically unable to work.
I’ve long advocated state funded major medical coverage with a high deductible that comes to the aid of those seriously in trouble. It addresses a risk that’s common to all of us, is relatively easy to administer, and can be funded by a payroll tax or an income tax override. Limiting it to every individual who files, or appears as a dependent, on a tax return also acts as an incentive for tax dodgers to file. They actually get something back for paying their taxes. It also has a strong positive impact on the high-risk pools, drives down the cost of individual insurance, and reduces the degree of government supplementation of uncollectable ER costs, since a large percentage of high cost patients will have coverage.
Coverage for those who view medical insurance as a pre-paid medical program, including those in the “bottom $600” group you’re seeking to serve can be provided by current private and employer plans, with some adjustments to allow considerably more design flexibility. The cost of those plans will be a lot lower because they’re not assuming the biggest risks.
In California about a decade and a half ago, we actually got a bill in the hopper for a program of this type. The Democrats, at the same time, proposed “single payer” again. When the hearings came, they got a full day extravaganza, we got 15 minutes. Single Payer passed, but got vetoed, and we saw a proposal that would have provided real financial protection to California’s working class replaced by Obamacare, a program to seize the wealth from California’s working class and hand it over to Obama’s non-productive constituency.
It's the difference between toxic socialist incentives and clean cut healthy capitalism's incentives.. If enough Americans are hunting for ways to spend their $600 wisely ( and yes, this will be mostly young people because those of us with group policies using this for copays will not change incentives as much) - the young will change the nature of medical care in the United States.
Really - incentives ARE that powerful.
Also WE as a party have to offer something to offset the pie in the sky crap democrats are putting out... Why does that matter? Because if we don't we'll be stuck with a democrat running socialized medicine... kind of like a bad VA system... long waits, surlily doctors, patients treated like charity wards etc. Piggyback on the step Walmart has made - it's a winner.