Well, how many of us hasn’t botched the first version of a product or service rollout. We think that’s what the House did Friday.
So, it’s back to the salt mines to craft a new one. A standalone bill free of phases and the mickey mouse spending strictures that the old bill had.
So, here are the things that we in the business community think we would like to see if a bill. They aren’t in any order of importance.
- No mandatory purchase of healthcare insurance by businesses or individuals, period, and no purchasing of insurance just ahead of a major medical event. Kids from 21-35 think they’re bulletproof, and wouldn’t generally buy.
- Health savings accounts with no cap on them, fully tax deductible. If a wealthy hedge fund manager in New York wants to buy a plan and covers everything with zero deductible for his family. then he can do that. On the other hand, an average mix of insurance products for a family of four in Illinois might look a lot different. Funds deposited in one year can roll over to another year.
- The key is that everyone wanting insurance is going to have a different mix of services on their plan, which is easy to figure out through a portal in each state.
- If an insured doesn’t like his rates in Rhode Island, he can access a exchange in Illinois. All the exchanges have multiple carriers, but like auto insurance, in some states there are only a few carriers who want to write insurance.
- Have the states run the exchanges through their insurance departments. If they need help covering expenses, the Feds can reinsure, once they’re sure there isn’t any fraud, waste and abuse. I’ve seen some state portals, and they’re pretty slick.
- Allow portability. If a business or an individual moves across state lines, the insurance stays the same for the business and for the individual. Health insurance is rerated, just as it is on your car or corporate fleet, based on experience.
- Tort reform, in that most damages are capped at $250,000 for medical and pain and suffering. On the other hand, cases like a friend of mine who was paralyzed after being hit by a teenage driver, can’t be capped, because she probably needs $250,000 of care a year. So a special panel to adjudicate cases like this needs to be established if not already done through insurance companies.
- A cap on personal expenditures on healthcare insurance of 7% of net income, tax deductible, on insurance expenses. Beyond that, the state or the feds backstop the cost, so you can cover everyone who wants coverage.
So, Donald, after you do TAX CUTS get the grimblers in HHS going on this, working with Brother Ryan in the House and Brother McConnell in the Senate. And even the Freedom Caucus and anyone else who wants in, such as NFIB. Whatever happened to the Price Plan? Work the research and comment process and let’s have it done before Nov. 2018, otherwise you’re all dead figuratively.