Health Care

In the midst of the intense debate here in the US about health care I decided it is time that I offered my own solution. First of all, I am a firm believer in the free market. I believe if people are responsible for their own care and pay their expenses out of their own pocket then I believe they will make better choices than the government ever will. At the same time I think it is unnecessary for anyone in a country as wealthy as the US to ever lose their life savings because they had the misfortune of getting sick. I have had to think long and hard to come up with a solution that would satisfy both requirements. I think the best solution is to have a government funded health savings account. I think it is key that it is government funded because too many people will fail to fund their own accounts. Here is how it would work.

- Every man woman and child who are citizens in the US will receive an account in their name.
- Every month the government will deposit $100 into that account.
- The account owner (or their legal guardian) will receive a debit card that can be used only toward health related purchases or services. This debit card is already used for Health Savings Accounts (HSA's) today.
- 99.9% of all people have very minor health expenses in the first 30 years of their lives.
- By the time people reach 30 years of age they will have more than $80,000 in their accounts
- In the very rare case where a young child has medical expenses that exceeds what they have in their accounts, family and friends can donate a portion of their HSA funds to help them out. Typically I see parents or grand parents who have plenty of money in their accounts helping a young child.
- One of the reasons health care costs are so high is because uninsured people don't get preventative care and then show up in emergency rooms where it often costs ten times the normal costs to get treated. This huge expense is now covered by those who have insurance. With everyone in the nation covered, this expense will be eliminated.
- When you die your money goes back to the government.
- By the age of 75 you will have nearly a million dollars.
- The average person spends about $250,000 on health care during their lives.
- Most of that is spent during your last year of life.
- This system will be much more efficient than the status quo because no one (like the insurance companies) will make a profit - money is only spent on medical expenses
- This system will cost the government about $300 billion a year where as today they spend about one trillion dollars.
- An average health insurance policy today costs about $300 a month compared to my $100 a month.

So there you have it. My solution to the nations health care problems.

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On the average, 99% of all your health expenses will happen in the last year of your life.

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