Charnigocare!

I first wrote this on September 9th 2009...guess what it was a good idea then...and it is now. 


Dad always preached to us Charnigo boys KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid), and that is what can be done with heath reform. So here is my plan, I have no degree just 41 years of common sense.

1) End state regulation of Health Insurance; make a universal national standard all companies must follow. As it is now each of the 50 states have their own standards and if you live in PA you can only buy a policy that is from a company in PA. So costs vary from state to state. 

2) Create a “free” market for the sale of health insurance. End the practice of the employer buying the policy for us. Instead create a system like the 401K were the employer contributes to an account that we then use to help fund the policy we buy. 

3) Give credit for healthy activities. If you belong to a gym or a sports club you get a discount. All smoking succession programs and classes should be free, funded by the taxes ALREADY collected from cigarettes.

4) Create the National Health Service. The National Health Service will consist of a University just like the Naval Academy or West Point. For the promise of service we will train doctors and all ranges of medical specialist from LPNs to Radiologists, to Brian Surgeons. These will be used to staff National Clinics and Hospitals in the poorest areas of the country. But each congressional district will have at least one clinic. The idea is to provide a safety net not a primary care for everyone. Anyone can use the services but they may have to pay if they have insurance already. 

5) The employer’s contribution the Health Savings Account and the citizen’s payment to the health insurance will be made using pre tax dollars like now. However if you make under $75K 100% of your contribution will be 100% tax deductable. 

6) The funding for all these things will be done in part by closing the tax loop holes that allow companies to be incorporated off shore, and allow private citizens to funnel money into off shore tax havens. 

7) End all TV and print ads for both lawyers and medical services and drugs that are not over the counter. 

8) Tort reform- Enact a loser pays system, also limit the amount of punitive damages to $1 Million in a life time per person. Compensatory damages will be awarded by a board of made up of physicians and medical providers not by a room full of lawyers. 
Well that is 8 things and takes less than a page. Sure I may have missed some things but it is a start.