A Health Insurance Idea
There has to be a way to cover those who are at most risk of not seeing a doctor when they are sick. One might think that those most at risk are the very poor, and they are at risk. But what is more alarming is the middle class’ risk factor. There are 45 million Americans without health insurance, and over the last four years some 83 million Americans did without health care coverage. No one should have to go bankrupt to see a doctor.
Below is a simple plan. It’s an opt-in plan, with a backup. If you have good health insurance now, then keep it. If not, then this is a plan for you:
Every family, not presently covered by private health insurance would pay 10% of the family’s total yearly income, capped at $80,000, or $8,000 per year, per family. This premium will then be assigned to a health care company drawn from a pool of health care providers in their state (this is similar to being put in an assigned risk pool for auto insurance). Included in the fee will be a full physical examination for each family member once a year. Sick visits will have a co-pay of $25.
Generic drugs will have a co-pay of $15 per prescription; name brand drugs will have a co-pay of $30 per prescription; new drugs, as defined by the Federal Drug Administration will be priced on a drug-by-drug basis.
Weekly incomes would include salary, stock dividends, rental properties and various other sources of income
No income tax will be paid on the medical insurance premium In other words, the premiums would be subtracted before taxes.
The weekly salary will be configured on a 52 week average, or estimates, if necessary
Unemployment insurance will not be exempt
Adjustments will be made at year’s end for any discrepancies, payable quarterly the following year
If a family has health insurance that surpasses the above-mentioned coverage, no fee will be deducted from their wages
Medicare and Medicaid will be unaffected
Since this is an opt-on plan, no one would be forced to join. If a person becomes sick, they would have to pay 10 percent of their salary to pay for their health care. No one should go bankrupt to pay for catastrophic health coverage, even if they don’t take advantage of this plan.
Imagine, if you will, the main wage-earner of a family loses his job, and as a result, the whole family’s health insurance. If there were some sort of national health care plan:
That person might be able to look for a better job rather than just settling in order to keep active his health care
That person might start his own, home-based business
Imagine that home-based business picking up, and that person hiring other people
Imagine the feelings of self-confidence if we were to truly make this an ownership society
-Noah Greenberg
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