U.S. Health Care Reform Made Simple– Eliminate Medicare, Medicaid, and Employer-Based Health Insurance
Zeke Emanuel is known for having Big Ideas. His short, easy to read new book, “Healthcare, Guaranteed“, is a must-read.
I first met Zeke several years ago at the Aspen Institute’s Socrates Society, and Zeke has been one of the most popular Socrates seminar leaders on the topic of bioethics. An oncologist and currently the chair of the department of bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, Zeke is a penetrating, deep thinker who knows how to cut to the core element of difficult issues. I have previously posted about Zeke when he remarked at our last Socrates gathering that our society is robbing posterity to live today. His new book is no less profound in its approach to simplifying the American health care system by gutting its core ’sacred cows’:
According to Newsweek’s review of “Healthcare, Guaranteed”, written by Mary Carmichael:
In place of all these institutions, Emanuel says, the government should offer every American a voucher for health insurance—one that covers the same benefits that members of Congress get. Insurance companies would have to accept the vouchers, and each person could choose from a variety of private networks of docs, hospitals and health plans. A National Health Board would oversee it all. And that’s pretty much it. Now the big question: how do we pay for it? Emanuel’s plan lowers some taxes by gutting costly programs, but it also adds a new fixed tax on some goods and services to pay for the vouchers. “Americans will come out revenue-neutral on average,” he says. “The poor will pay less.” And the rich will probably pay a lot more. Sweeping changes are one thing, but sweeping changes and a new tax? Even if the plan could save health care, it’ll be a hard sell.
Clearly not a layup, but also a very interesting and possibly a compelling solution to the broken healthcare financial reimbursement system in our country. So read this book– and let me know what you think by commenting on this blog post.
Related posts:
- “We are Robbing Posterity to Live Today.”
- Web-Based Seminar Will Announce New Venture Board Governance Initiative on February 2 at 9:00 AM PST
- Building a High Performance Board and the Duty of Care
- Plato, Contemporary Government, and the Aspen Institute
- Democracy in America Revisited—Toward a New Definition of the Public Good [Eighth and Last of a Series]
5 Responses to “U.S. Health Care Reform Made Simple– Eliminate Medicare, Medicaid, and Employer-Based Health Insurance”
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I am a venture capitalist focused on investing in Security, Cleantech, and Digital Media. I have a strong interest in public policy issues and advocate public-private collaboration to protect our nation's critical infrastructure.
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June 5th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Interesting, maybe even a bit original, on the other hand, it doesn’t present some substantial expenses lowering. And I believe when 16% of US GDP is spent for health care, there really should be some cuts…
Anyway, are there any countries, where vouchers are used?
Lorne
June 6th, 2008 at 9:42 am
The Farmer and the Insurance Agent
Imagine you’re a farmer out in the country. You know what type of crops to plant and when to plant them. You take pride every year when you see your goods being sold to market and fell good about providing nutrition for both youth and adults. You know very well that some of your crop will spoil before they make it to the shelves. However, there is nothing you can do to prevent this, once it leaves your farm, someone else has the responsibility of delivering or storing your crop.
Now imagine that about half of the population in the big cities has a great idea to stop crops from spoiling. They protest that the government should be the ones to grow and ship the crops. These idea holders have little knowledge of farming, but have heard that in some countries, government run farms appear to be just as efficient as ours. This is the basis of their argument. The government should run all farms and see that the shipment is delivered in a timely fashion, to ensure there are no spoiled products.
As a farmer you know that spoiled crops are inevitable, unless you grow them right next to the store. But there are many who hold you responsible, for what is really the nature of produce. Although it’s clear to you and all other farmers, that it’s just the reality of farming, but to try and change the opinions of those in the far away cities would be impossible.
Those who cling to this new idea are happy to consume your crops. However, they haven’t a clue as to what it takes to make them grow and to ship. They just want fresh produce and don’t care to educate themselves about what farming is about.
The following year’s political season is filled with promises of government collectivization of farms. “Fresh produce” for all they say. This appeals to many, and the polls indicate that most people are in favor.
With dust in their eyes, they cannot recognize the benefits of the current system. They can pick and choose which ever store they wish to shop at and always have a variety of produce to choose from. They can complain to the store management if the tomatoes are never fresh. Management, in turn, will probably call a new produce vendor to keep his customers happy.
Shortly after the elections, an agricultural collectivization act is past. All farms are now government run. The harvest is expensive, but the government does its best and it turns out to be a great season. The Gov. then ships the harvest to the cities and the inevitable occurs. There are some spoiled goods. Now the city folk find themselves in a tight spot. Who can they complain to, and who would listen? Now they are stuck.
I know the idea of Free Health care for all seems great, but it is a trap. You will be stuck with what ever the government says. What if you really needed a surgery and the Gov. deems it unnecessary or what if a preventable mistake occurs during a procedure? Maybe you feel your doctor is incompetent but he’s going to be your surgeon, who do you turn too?
The reality is that your grievances will be ignored, you may be denied a life saving treatment or possibly a therapy that would improve your life. Today we have choices upon choices, and doctors are fully aware that you may drop them at any time. They save lives and alleviate pain, but at the end of the day, they still need to feed their families. So long they compete for our dollars, Dr.’s will always be at the mercy of the consumer. If you place your health in the hands of the government, you will no longer have control of your health, it will belong to the Feds.
Less Gov. is Better Gov. So Long It’s a Fair Gov.
http://www.InsureMeDFW.com
June 7th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Zeke Emanuel Responds to Reader Comments:
There are countries that have similar health care systems to the one Vic Fuchs and I propose.
In 1996 Israel developed a similar system–the government provides everyone a basic package and people can buy supplemental insurance. For the lasst 10 years costs have stayed relatively flat at about 8.5% of GDP, quality is very high, and satisfaction among Israelis is high. And this is not a population easy to please! Are there problems–sure, but nothing like the combined access, cost, and quality problems the US has.
Israel is not the only model. Netherlands is somewhat similar.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:39 am
What is wrong with our system? We have great facilities, doctors, and programs for the needy.
For example. In the state of Texas, there are many uninsured children. However, there are over 150 different programs that are either free or work off a sliding scale. (usually like $10/mo per child) These are also quality plans.
I just helped two single mothers obtain coverage for the children.
The outline of coverage which came with their packages blew me away.
For instance, if a child has an appointment with a Dr. and the child’s mother has no gas money, they will provide transportation to and from the appointment or place of care.
The best plans in the private sector can’t hold a flame to what the two mothers now have given their children.
I personally know one family that has had an application for this program for over a year. They just can’t find the time to apply. WTF?
They might even qualify for children’s Medicaid, which is free, but we will never know until they take the fifteen minutes necessary to fill out the paper work. You can lead a horse to water……..
This is why I question those who blame the system. Major Medical Coverage can be obtained by everyone in the U.S., and it’s affordable.
The individual must take the first steps if we are going to improve the system. We used to call it “Personal Responsibility”, I don’t know if we have that in our collective vocabulary any more?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Good and informative article. Development of health care service should increase and improved which makes us to lead happy life and to get very inforamtive service without any disadvanatages