John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, has an excellent Op-Ed in today’s Wall Street Journal outlining his vision for a plan to reform American health care.
Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:
Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan’s costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.
I am lucky. Unlike many of my friends, I'm not among the ranks of the 4.1 million Canadians (about 12 percent) who don't have a primary care physician. The reason I have a doctor and they don't is because I have connections.
I haven't always been so fortunate. Although I'm in my mid-20s, for several years I made do at a "teen health center" for yearly check-ups. But then my mother began working with a woman whose husband works in the same building as a large medical clinic. This colleague (via her husband) was able to get my mom an appointment with an excellent doctor in the building. After about a year of seeing this doctor, my mom managed to get me a spot in the practice, too.
(Editor's note: The following has been republished with permission from the Foundation for Economic Education’s “Not So Fast!”). It was first printed on August 5, 2009.
By William Anderson
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman recently made an extraordinary statement regarding the application of markets to medical care. Writing in his July 31 column, Krugman stated:
The White House is serious about health care reform. They are so serious that they have asked anyone who sees “disinformation” being spread that might cause Americans to doubt that President Obama’s agenda for health care reform is good for the country to report it to the White House by emailing it to flag@whitehouse.gov.
Rep. Paul Ryan is interviewed on MSNBC about health care reforms and does an exceptional job of letting people know why it’s prudent not to rush a vote on a 1,000 page bill that most legislators haven’t even read.
He also busts the myths that legislators already have access to a public option and that opposing the public plan is opposing competition in the health care market.
This 20/20 segment on health care reform aired on Friday. John Stossel talks to experts about waiting in the Canadian system, town lotteries to get a family doctor, the price of innovation and one way you can get fast access to health care in Canada. (Hint: you have to bark!)
Rodmond Huska, a man from Winnipeg, Manitoba, became ill with a bladder infection in May while visitng Colorado. He passed away on June 24, still in Colorado.
Why didn’t Rodmond go home? Winnipeg hospitals had no bed to put him in. Instead of spending his last month with family and friends, Rodmond and his family spent it fighting with Manitoba’s health care system so that he could go home.
There’s an interesting pushback against nationalized health care, coming from the state legislature in Arizona and the governor’s office in Texas. Meanwhile, state legislators across the country have also expressed their concern. Now, the idea of state action has taken root in Utah.
In "Fannie Med? Why a 'Public Option' is Hazardous to Your Health," there is an interesting admission by the White House regarding President Obama’s promise to Americans that they will not lose health care that they are happy with.
It’s not surprising that Americans don’t believe the president when he says that they will be able to keep their coverage. Even if the Congressional Budget Office weren’t reporting on reform proposals, in the past, Mr. Obama — and many members of his government – have been strong supporters of implementing single-payer health care, similar to the system in Canada, in the United States — even if they have to bring it about slowly through creation of a public option.
The UK’s National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is ordering doctors to reduce the number of steroid injections to treat chronic back pain for which the cause is not known. The reason? NICE hopes that the new policy will help get health care costs in its public system under control.
In this video, an undercover camera goes along on the attempts of three men to get health care in Canada.
Actual nurses and doctors told the guys filming a few interesting things:
The video’s a bit silly, but the insight you get into what is “the norm” in the system by listening to Canadian medical workers makes it well worth watching.
One of the common misconceptions about health insurance is that health insurers, like auto insurers, can drop their clients at any point if they become too risky. In fact, health insurers must honor their plans with their policy-holders as long as the customers are up-to-date with all payments and contractual obligations.
The Washington Policy Center has released a three-part video set on health care reform.
Highlights include a shot of the actual health care bill — over 1,000 pages (no wonder there is concern it won’t be read!), an excerpt from a list of what the current legislation would pay for — including street lights and farmers’ markets — and a practical list of solutions for health reform that would avoid many of the problems of the current reform plans.
Many Americans believe that the high costs of health care are bringing about more instances of bankruptcy across the country, especially as the number of uninsured Americans rises in the recession.
According to Brett Skinner of the Fraser Institute, however, there is no evidence that this is the case — or at least, there is no evidence that reducing the number of uninsured Americans and further socializing the health care system would limit bankruptcies.
CNN Money reports on the five freedoms Americans would lose if the current congressional health care reform plan were put through:
These freedoms are significant for one very important reason: The freedoms to choose what’s in your plan, to choose a high deductible plan and to benefit from the lower health care costs incurred by someone who lives a healthy life are all freedoms that lead to choices that promote lower health care costs. Losing these freedoms in the process of reforming health care would push up health care costs even though the purpose of the reforms is to bring these costs down.
Proponents of Obamacare believe that reforms to the health care system can bring down or eliminate unnecessary costs in health care and that by facilitating these changes, the government can bring overall health spending under control and create economic stimulus and universal insurance coverage in the process.
Marianne Skogh is an 83-year old Swedish woman who suffered from spinal stenosis.
Skogh waited over a year to see a specialist under Sweden’s public health care system, only to be told that, though the pain and numbness in her legs was something that could be treated, she was too old to undergo that treatment.
Two Michigan legislators, Rep. David Camp and Rep. Fred Upton, have signed a pledge being circulated by Let Freedom Ring regarding the passage of any health care reform legislation.
The pledge that these representatives has made is a small but significant one: They have promised that they will not vote on any health care legislation unless they have read it. They have also committed to making legislation available to the public before voting.
In his latest column for Reason Magazine, John Stossel brings up an important point about health reform cost predictions:
What will the actual price tag be for a plan estimated to cost $1.5 trillion? Let’s hope Americans don’t have to find out.
With the recent Rasmussen poll that suggests 53 percent of Americans are at least somewhat opposed to congressional plans to reform health care as the latest evidence that Americans are skeptical of governments’ plans to take on a greater role in that sector of the economy, it’s curious that President Obama continues to push for health reform before the fall.
Senator Carl Levin thinks that President Obama needs to proceed with caution on health care reform:
Sen. Levin has an important opportunity to push for the kinds of reforms that do help to lower the costs of health insurance: opposing community ratings systems, pushing for interstate competition in health insurance and lowering or removing coverage mandates that push up premiums.
The New York Times reports that Massachusetts will be cutting care for over 30,000 legal immigrants in the state. Although they hold green cards, they’ve done so for less than five years and as such, these taxpayers will no longer qualify for the benefits afforded to the rest of the state — though they’ll continue to pay for them.
America’s new cap-and-trade system for energy as a result of the Waxman-Marxley legislation is designed to reduce energy use. It does this by increasing the price of energy through rationing — that is, putting a cap on energy use. After this cap is in place, the market must readjust to a new, higher cost of energy.
Some materials from the Grand Rapids Health Care Roundtable are now available online:
