(For the record, I am a spokesperson and a member of Liberty HealthShare. You can also listen to this radio excerpt with Dale Bellis, the Executive Director of Liberty HealthShare.)
Again this presidential campaign is short on solutions from both sides.
The latest comes from the Trump-Pence campaign. They talk about immediately repealing and replacing Obamacare when they take office.
But with what?
They never say anything specific except it will be “something great”. When I press other “repeal and replace” lawmakers, most of them want things that are already in the ACA.
The Clinton campaign is, as well, just as vague about making improvements.
Frustrating, yes, because no one is discussing real solutions. We need a healthcare system that makes healthcare available and affordable; and it leads to long-term health for the nation.
But solutions are missing because very few understand what the real problem is.
Here it is.
US Healthcare today, as we know it, is not a true, free market economic model.
Seriously, can you figure out what the cost of your medical bill really is? No. It is different for you compared to someone else. It is different in one part of the country to another. It is different if you have insurance or if you don’t.
Knowing that, now you find the solutions to get the free market working.
And what are they:
- First, make all Americans self-pay patients. That is the only way to increase competition and reduce costs. It is a free-market principle. If we allow the American consumer make the choices individually prices will drop. Right now, there is no free-market in healthcare. Think about if a person had the freedom to get the healthcare he or she wanted at any time and any place of their choosing.
- Second, abolish the employer tax deduction for providing healthcare to employees. This well-meaning tax giveback causes more problems than solutions. In short, it doubles down on an anti-free market approach. This tax and its financial incentives to companies, studies show, has actually reduced jobs while lowering salaries. In addition, the tax deduction, along with the employer providing healthcare, removes any responsibility from the individual employee to pay attention to their healthcare and healthcare costs. “It’s not my money being spent; it’s the company’s.” Getting rid of the deduction would free up companies to concentrate on their core business not HR. And it would free up employees to work at a job for a reason other than healthcare.
- Third, this has nothing to do with allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines. First, it is almost impossible because the states control insurance regulations. And second, it doesn’t create more competition like freeing up consumers to dive into a market would.
Think about both those ideas. It is bringing free market principles back. It is giving people – not government or a bureaucrat – the choice.
Once you understand that, then we can make sure Congress gets it. Forget the Presidential election. The real solutions to healthcare will happen in the new Congress. And we need them armed with solutions not campaign slogans.
Yes, these are the main principles for medical cost sharing and Liberty HealthShare. Medical cost sharing is a healthcare sharing ministry that is allowable under the Affordable Care Act. Members agree, under certain principles, to share each other’s medical bills.
So, yes I am pushing this healthcare concept because I am a spokesperson, but also because I think it would help many people while helping the country.
I am seeing it work already as so many people are inquiring now that healthcare costs are soaring. In nearly four years, Liberty HealthShare has grown from zero members to 130,000 members including 67,000 households.
But it is not just cost-savings. You are part of a community of people working with you. And you are in an organization that emphasizes healthcare prevention. Keep in mind that studies show 90% of the illnesses that affect the US can be cured or controlled by lifestyle changes. That helps reduce catastrophic long-term medical costs.
Still, medical cost sharing is not for everybody. If you are happy with insurance, then stay with it.
Also if you are someone who refuses to take responsibility for your own health care, then this isn’t for you.
If you want your boss to tell you what is best for your health care, then this is not for you.
However, if you are interested, go to this site to enroll or call 888-616-9443 to talk to someone.
Comments on this entry are closed.