Liberals keep saying, “If Obamacare is so terrible, what is your solution.” Conservatives keep saying, “If the GOP replacement is so bad, what is your solution.”
So, here’s the answer from a common sense, small businessman and S.O.B. (son of a butcher). Why does healthcare to be so complicated? Why is Obamacare 2000 pages long, with billions in spending and nonstop regulations?
How about repealing and replacing Obamacare with one page, two tiers and seven simple points:
#1) Keep government OUT of it. Don’t let government run anything. New York City’s subway system is failing this summer. Everything is broken. Subway cars are being held together with staples and bubble gum. Commuters are waiting for hours in sweltering heat. It’s pure misery. The MTA Chairman’s response? “Commuters should leave for work earlier.”
This is government. Government does not work. Government can’t make the subways run on time. Or run at all. Government can’t run the VA. They put vets on waiting lists to die. Government can’t run Amtrak. Government can’t win the war on drugs. Government fails at whatever it does—and it fails expensively.
So, you want government running your healthcare?
If anyone should run it, give the healthcare system to Amazon or Google or Walmart! But never government.
#2) “Model” our system after Singapore.
A) Everyone pays up to the first $10,000 in healthcare bills themselves.
They do it with a $10,000 Health Savings account—which is 100% tax deductible.
B) For all the costs over $10,000, everyone must buy a cheap, no-frills, bare-bones, catastrophic health insurance policy. That will cost something like $100 to $200 per month.
Simple. Cheap. Easy. Doable.
The federal government guarantees all your bills over $10,000 are paid by the insurance companies, just like it currently guarantees your bank accounts.
So, American middle-class families will never go broke from a healthcare crisis or catastrophe. Everything over $10K in a year is covered. Just like car insurance, the little bills are your responsibility. But they are 100% tax deductible.
On the mandate issue, both Democrats and Republicans have it wrong. There is a “mandate” with my plan. Just like everyone must carry car insurance, everyone must take a simple, cheap, no-frills, bare-bones insurance policy. But not the onerous, super-expensive mandate Obama demanded. Obama’s mandate bankrupted the entire middle class.
Who can’t afford $100 to $200 per month? THAT’S what should have been the national plan from day one.
#3) You can buy your policy anywhere—across state lines. Watch costs come down dramatically.
#4) You can buy your prescriptions anywhere—across country lines. Buy your prescriptions in Mexico, Canada, or Switzerland—wherever it’s cheapest. Watch costs come down dramatically.
#5) Mandate that doctors and hospitals post prices for every procedures online—so you can pick your doctor based on affordability. Watch costs come down dramatically.
#6) Tort reform—limit the lawsuit rewards. Patients have a right to sue, but not win the lottery. Watch costs come dramatically down.
#7) Make preventative health our national priority—your gym membership, home gym equipment, vitamins, herbs and holistic doctor visits are the way to make America healthy again. So, make it all 100% tax deductible under your Health Savings Account.
#8) No matter what Congress passes, they have to live by exact same rules as the rest of us.
That’s “Tier One.”
That leaves one missing link—the poor. They get their own system.
Call it: “Tier Two.”
The poor get some version of government-run healthcare. It’s cheap and no-frills, but free. But it doesn’t affect the rest of us. It doesn’t ruin my healthcare. Why should the rest of us be affected in any way by the healthcare for the poor? Government never should have gone near our healthcare. Just come up with a seperate government-run plan for poor people.
But here’s the powerful new wrinkle…
There’s a work requirement. Everyone who gets free government-run healthcare must work. Just as many states have put a work requirement on welfare or food stamps. Guess what happened? The rolls dropped by 50%, thereby saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
You want free healthcare? If you don’t want to work, you don’t get the check. From now on, you want healthcare paid by government, you’ll get a job, or the government will provide one.
That solves another problem. There are way too many government employees—about 22 million nationwide. Most getting bloated salaries and unaffordable pensions. How about replacing millions of them with all these people who need free healthcare? They’ll get their free government-run healthcare, but they’ll save taxpayers a fortune. They’ll replace government workers.
No more $100,000 salaries and pensions for life. All these free healthcare recipients can sit in government offices for free, while they collect free healthcare. They can hand out welfare checks and food stamps. Or build bridges and roads. Or direct traffic. Or run daycare centers. This what they have to do in return for free healthcare—they get to become “civil servants.” Instead of costing taxpayers billions, they’ll save us billions.
No one gets a free ride. America is great again. America is fair again. Healthcare SOLVED.
Forget Obamacare… Ryancare… McConnellcare… Let’s try…
Rootcare.
