Health Care

Just read an article at Investors Business Daily which pointed out an opportunity coming up very shortly. Assuming the Supreme Court overturns Obamacare, it would behoove the Republicans to have a proper alternative ready to hand, and by that I certainly do not mean Romneycare.

The article cited five areas where government meddling had made health care more expensive, and proposed corrective action in these areas.
1. End the tax discrimination against individual insurance buyers.

2. Let consumers buy plans across state lines, giving states an incentive to rein in their out-of-control benefit mandates.

3. Let small groups establish association health plans to get benefits of scale.

4. Ease the rules that are choking off the medical savings account market.

5. Reform the nation's tort laws.

How hard would it be to put together a single bill addressing all 5 areas, at least to some degree, and present it as the capitalist alternative to government intrusion?

In the case of the first three, if companies could sell nationally, they could offer policies tailored to the most common demands of the customers, and create the groups mentioned in 3 themselves. Thus when an individual comes looking for a narrowly tailored policy, he can be grouped with a widely scattered, but otherwise similar group to get what he wants at the group rate.

As to #5, making "loser pays" the law of the land, at least at the Federal level, would go a long way toward accomplishing this.

I wrote my congressman suggesting this. Strike while the iron is hot.