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Healing Health Care

By Shawn Macomber on 8.6.08 @ 12:08AM

(Page 2 of 2)

DP: Buy an HSA, or get one through your employer. This will force massive efficiencies onto the heath care market, and just like the Americans who rejected the corporate rationing by HMOs, which ended the presence of HMOs in the U.S., average Americans buying HSAs will do more to change the American health care system than any other action. HSAs are the fastest growing type of health insurance, fastest growing type of bank account and fastest growing type of investment account. The HSA growth curve for the first years has far surpassed the first years of IRAs, for example. HSAs have lowered the cost of health insurance for millions, and put real push behind price transparency. HSAs will have a profound impact on the debate about containing entitlement health care spending on programs like Medicare.

TAS: You advocate a national competitive marketplace for health insurance. How would individual state coverage mandates affect that market?

DP: Buying health insurance across state lines will allow companies in low mandate states to offer the lowest price insurance, and as their market share grows, pressure will grow on the high mandate states to become more reasonable.

TAS: How does FairCare fit into this picture?

DP: FairCare is cash for people to use to buy their own health insurance. Cash for employees of companies that do not provide health insurance, and cash for those who are uninsured. FairCare would give $5,000 cash to a family and $2,000 cash to a single.

TAS: How can we expect FairCare to get through Congress without a million fatal strings/mandates attached?

DP: The combination of being able to buy insurance across state lines and FairCare will create a system that will discourage mandates. HSAs have no mandates. In fact, the only benefit allowed below the deductible is preventive care, which has been a positive characteristic of HSAs that has accelerated its adoption rate.

TAS: If you could instantaneously educate the entire United States population on one single aspect of health care reform, what would it be?

DP: If you can't stand insurance companies, because you think you are being taken to the cleaners every month, buy an HSA qualified health plan. It will cut your premium by at least 35 percent, and if it doesn't keep shopping to find the HSA plan that will. If we waved a magic wand and put every American into an HSA, then insurers would be selling buildings, unplugging computer systems and going from an average family premium of $12,000 to $9,000. Now, this explains why there will never be a national marketing campaign for HSA qualified insurance by large insurers. Which is exactly why every American or their employer should buy one.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Health Care, Medicaid, Law, NATO, Medicare