Don’t Give Me Half-baked Healthcare Reform

I am tired of proposals for half-baked healthcare reform.  I want real reform.

I want healthcare outcomes as good as in Switzerland, or Japan, or France.  And I want it at affordable.

Every country on the continent of Europe has universal healthcare.  On average, their per capita healthcare costs are half the cost in the United States.  Even Switzerland, with the second most expensive healthcare system on the planet, has per capita costs that are 29% less than the U.S.

LET’S REDEFINE THE U.S. HEALTHCARE DEBATE. 

Lets stop looking through old lenses.  Let’s start looking at new possibilities for reform.

I had once intended to provide information about the proposals from presidential candidates and think tanks.  Forget that. 

Instead I will show that Cost Containment and High Quality Medical Services are not mutually exclusive goals. 

THE YIN AND YANG OF SUCCESSFUL HEALTHCARE POLICY: a recurring theme.

Neither public nor private healthcare systems are capable of providing the kinds of services the other provides.

An entirely public system would be a Nationalized system, like Sweden, or a Single-payer system, like Canada.  Both systems have inherent weaknesses.

Private systems would be like Switzerland, mentioned above, or the United States if your age is below 65. Both these systems have weaknesses.  They are the two most expensive systems in the world.

But even Switzerland must be doing something right.  It has universal coverage. It produces excellent health outcomes.  It’s healthcare costs are MUCH lower than the U.S.

The things Switzerland is doing right are also being done by other countries.  All these countries are addressing five policy issues that can be reduced to a simple acronym: C-MCGU.

• Choice between public and private coverage.
• Mandatory enrollment
• Community ratings
• Guaranteed issue
• Uniform benefits

SO WE COULD GET GOOD HEALTHCARE AT HALF THE PRICE IF WE ADDRESSED THESE ISSUES?

YES.  Not just YES. But YES, YES, YES!!!

Start looking at healthcare reform from the point of where you want to be, instead of where you are now!

Next Blog: C-MCGU Part 1, Choice, The Yin and Yang of Public and Private Coverage.