John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, posts The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare at the WSJ.
\nThe 8 things he lists are:
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\n- Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
\n- Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
\n- Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
\n- Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
\n- Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
\n- Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
\n- Enact Medicare reform.
\n- Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
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Go read the whole thing; below, I have some notes of my own.
\nPoint 1 (HSAs) is near and dear to me; I have an HSA and it's great. I get to keep all the money I don't spend; it's mine all mine. That makes me very cost-conscious, and I could be even more cost-conscious if point 6 (cost transparency) was available.
\nPoints 2 (federal tax law), 3 (state law), and 4 (mandated coverage) should be educational to anyone who thinks we already have a free market in health care. We don't. These point out only a few of the kinds of federal and state regulation that reduce the effectiveness of markets.
\nNot sure how I feel about point 5 (tort reform). I'm definitely in favor of the reform that says \"loser pays\" but I'm betting that's not what most of the tort reform crowd has in mind.
\nPoint 7 (Medicare reform) is a little vague.
\nPoint 8 (donations to those without insurance) makes for actual *charity*, with all the moral and emotional benefits that confers upon the charitable giver, and not merely confiscation by the government.
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