But more than that, if one wants to reduce costs somewhat, the proposal to establish Medical Accounts similar to IRAs, with a certain amount for ordinary care deposited in pre- tax dollars, and the carrying of various forms of catastrophic insurance, would be a good way to go.
Eyuup. That could work, but even this sort of plan will take a bit of discipline. "Health accounts" will make us more directly responsible for paying healthcare costs, and vast numbers of us will simply exhaust whatever meager dollar amounts (relative to cost) we are able to put in those accounts. Let’s face it, medical care is essentially a product like any other, and its costs will not be reduced until its demand is reduced-- whatever arrangements we fashion.
It seems to me we need to consider ways we as a society might better work to decrease healthcare demand. Perhaps we could, for example, plan our communities to better facilitate exercise as part of daily living and not as an abstraction of life. Surely it is a broad approach, but it points to the root of the problem. If we continue to ignore the problem's root, then I don't see how any of the healthcare proposals commonly mentioned could do much better than our current system in the face of escalating healthcare demand. |
