The American Spectator

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Expensive Thirst

6.13.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 6 of 6)

Besides, the run for the presidency seems to be almost a 2-year endeavor. Although I don't presume to speak for the citizens of New York, I have to wonder how the voters of that state will feel about Hillary running twice for president during the same 6-year senate term.
-- Garry Greenwood
Gearhart, Oregon

FINISHING TOUCHES
Re: Peter Ferrara's Free Market Universal Health Care:

Mr. Ferrara has the beginning of an excellent free-market system that could indeed ensure near-"universal" health care. But there are a few critical things that he forgot:

1. Mandated benefits. It is vital that the state stop mandating coverage of certain practitioner types or procedures. One option would be to allow "federally-chartered" health insurance companies (modeled very loosely after the banking system), and require only that a policy without, say, infertility coverage, that is sold in a state that mandates infertility coverage, include a notice and a waiver for each "missing" mandate that the purchaser must sign stating that they "understand that this policy does not include infertility coverage, which the State of MA mandates for state-chartered health insurance." Without an end to mandated benefits, prices for policies will continue to be sky-high in too many states.

2. Provider Competition. Certificate-of-Need needs to go, as well as laws that unduly restrict the ability of some providers to offer their services. Nurse practitioners are a great example of providers that could offer lower-cost care in many states if they weren't tied up by supervision requirements (some states don't have these burdens, of course). Specialty hospitals are another innovative provider that CON prevents in too many states.

3. Eliminate the tax preference for employer-provided health care/insurance. Whether this is done by expanding the tax deduction for care/insurance to all, converting it to a credit for all, or eliminating it altogether, really isn't that important. But individuals must be free to get insurance on their own, through a voluntary association (such as a church), or through their employer or union. Some people like the idea of "being part of a group" and having someone else make decisions for them, and we need to preserve that option. But for those that don't, they need to be able to choose their own insurance/care plan.

4. Finally, and most important: Real Prices. Everything else discussed really doesn't matter if there aren't real prices available to consumers. Having one price for insured A, another price that's double that for insured B, and yet another price for C that's triple what B pays cannot continue. Given that the lion's share of hospitals in this country are either government-owned or non-profit, I think requiring that these institutions post their prices and give their best price to cash-paying customers (such as HSA holders, others with high deductibles, or the uninsured) is well within the powers of Congress. It's not a price control either -- they can continue to set their prices wherever they want, they just have to disclose their cash price and make sure that's their lowest price (others can get this price too, if the hospital choses it). I wouldn't mandate private for-profit hospitals do the same, but market pressure should pretty much force them to follow.

Add these to Mr. Ferrara's suggestions, and you truly do have the outlines of a comprehensive, free-market universal health care system.
-- Sean Parnell
Alexandria, Virginia

Peter Ferrara replies:
These points are all fine and could be added to any free market health care reform. I was just trying to sketch out the minimum to achieve assurance of universal health care and show how little needs to be done to achieve that. A government takeover of health care is certainly not required for that, as the liberals argue. But I was not trying to discuss a comprehensive health care reform that addresses costs and every other aspect of health care. The points below would be fine additions to such a broader reform.

TWO CENTS
Re: Jeffrey Lord's LBJ's List and the Conservative Challenge:

I'd like to see Obama pick a conservative for VP. Like Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
-- Lou

Letter to the Editor

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