Reorganize all health around Patient-centered healthcare

Health
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1

We need to return to a place where the Patient is at the center of concern around how healthcare is provided. No longer should insurance companies be driving the decisions. They exist to provide reimbursement in time of need and to balance the load of unexpected events across large populations. The following set of policies act as a cohesive whole to return the proper incentives to the system:

  1. Every citizen receives a health savings account (HSA), from which all healthcare expenses are paid.
  2. Insurance premiums are paid from the HSA (i.e. pre-tax), not outside of it as done today.
  3. Employers may contribute to the HSA and deduct those contributions. Employers will no longer sponsor healthcare plans. Everything will move to a direct-to-consumer (D2C) or Cooperative purchasing model.
  4. Every standard health expense will be required to be listed on a public pricing chart.
  5. Standard annual expenses will not be paid by health insurance. Rather, it will be cash pay. If the HSA does not have the cash, the government will provide a zero-interest loan to the HSA.
  6. Insurance will be unbundled. Basic insurance will not cover typical annual expenses (now cash pay). Nor will it cover experimental or patented medicines. Basic insurance will only cover off-patent medicines and treatments. Supplemental policies can be purchased to add layers of protection for varying degrees of patent coverage.
  7. The government will reimburse $500 per citizen per year for detailed diagnostic blood panels.
  8. The government will match citizen contributions 1-for-1 up to $2,500 annually.
  9. A citizen may contribute up to a cumulative pre-tax threshold equal to $1,000 for every year of life. Any amount below the threshold can be contributed pre-tax to “top up” the HSA. (e.g. A 50 year old who spends $20,000 on a surgery can deduct that amount in order to top up the HSA to full balance).
  10. Any amounts left in the HSA at death will be distributed as follows (a) outstanding loans paid back to government, (b) government match paid back to the government, and (c) distributed tax-free to a named recipient’s HSA.