Please note as you begin reading this post that I believe in readily available, affordable health care for all US citizens and those legally working/living in the US on Visas. I do not believe in socialized medicine and am against the government running health care.

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In all of the talk about affordable health care for every person in the United States there appears to be a fundamental irresponsibility to look at what it will take to secure the underpinnings of the health care industry for this change. (not enough facilities or doctors for the anticipated influx of patients seeking primary care doctors and specialist services)

As a response to the bloated bills currently being reconciled by our should-already-have-been-voted-out leaders in the Senate and House, I offer the following approach to reforming health care in the US.

The new bill(s) would include all of the following:

Finally address torte reform – getting paid for pain & suffering as well as continued medical costs is just. Getting paid 8 figures b/c the doctor had to redo your surgery is a little absurd.

Supply guaranteed loans and grants for people studying to become doctors, add in tax breaks to allow them to set up their practice to support the medical records act requirements and streamline claims processing so doctors can spend more time with patients and less time having to figure out how best to code you in the system so they can get paid for treating you.

Provide incentives that encourage doctors to work in poor and crime ridden areas (similar to how many states give teachers incentives to work in those same areas).

Subsidize pharmaceuticals – R&D costs should be granted to the various companies by the government and private sectors without a need to make back the money by pricing drugs out of the average consumer’s ability to pay. Dollars netted from sales of the new drugs would go back to fund additional R&D work.

Make insurance companies offer a “one size fits all plan” of basic coverage made affordable for everyone similar to the new “basic checking account” option the government is making US banks institute this year. You could even have basic w/abortion and basic w/o abortion (for single males and those religiously and morally apposed to elective abortion) Paired with the tax break/credit option noted below and everyone should be able to have basic healthcare as long as they can legally file a tax return.

Invest in Urgent Care centers in areas under-served by traditional doctors and hospitals. This formula (we know from experience) lowers the cost to take care of the patients and provides for a more affordable model for those with the least in financial resources.

Offer a tax break to those with health insurance and a credit to those in certain income levels if they can show they had an active health care plan at any time in the past tax year. This encourages people to purchase their own health care plan and blissfully keeps the government out of the business of providing a “public option”.

These no-nonsense, common sense options need to be considered immediately as they require no purchasing of votes with special incentives in the bill and you wouldn’t need to exempt special interest groups from Cadillac taxes or future cost increases for Medicaid.

You may be asking yourself, how I propose we pay for these changes. That one is easy. Bill those coming from other countries to be treated in the US system a use-tax. You aren’t a citizen and you use our health care resources then you pay a 25-50% surcharge depending on whether the surgery is medically necessary or elective. This should be particularly lucrative given that the Canadian Health Care System sends patients over the border for services it cannot provide locally. We would also charge the same surcharge on drugs exported out of the country with exemptions for developing nations. The CBO would have to determine final numbers, but I believe it would have to cost less to implement than the current proposed bill