Just another reminder….
Please don’t forget to enter your solutions for the health reform compeition that Eric Novack and I are running, into this post. Only 250 words to save the American health care system? You can do that, go on!
Categories: Uncategorized
Matthew,
Why not post a seperate thread where readers can discuss the competition entries?
Might get a good talk going …
1. Provide basic catastrophic health insurance through a single payer plan (100% Government, 100% Private or 100% Govt. with 5-10 large TPA’s running the thing).
2. Provide incentives to ration use of services in the case of terminal disease or end of life. Have a dollar amount that can be used to comfort the individual with extra monies going to the afflicted individuals estate to be passed on without estate tax upon death or use the amount for extending the life of the afflicted as long as possible.
3. Incentivize employers (tax credits or other)to provide more prevention and disease mgmnt through web based and other community programs. Unemployed can be seen by tax credit incentivized providers. Many of us spend more time at work than elsewhere).
4. Through open source style web based programs create provider accountability with a 2 part provider grading system (part A for JCAHO style grades, part B for consumer/user grades on perceived value).
5. Deploy large scale HIT for EMR’s as well as for development and use of care and prevention guidelines. Same technology could be used by the employers in #3 above.
6. Create an incentive for the insured that if they stay healthy they will get to keep a portion of their allocated health dollars or apply them to another family member.
7. Allow for as true as possible market based alternatives for those desiring to spend their dollars on “perks” (acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, unproven drug therapies).
End of “entry”
I never thought I would suggest some form of a single payer system, but it seems the only realistic choice given the 3 challenges listed. Wish there were more responses.
This is too long for your competition, but it’s on topic, and if nothing else, outlines the desiderata.
http://www.harp.org/rsf.htm
Harvey
OK:
Give everyone in the US a PDA for their PHR. Let this work like the game console market. Make the sale on the add-ons. At the base level you only get your medical records. If you want to use the typical PDA functions you have to upgrade. More important upgrades would be wireless devices to measure blood pressure, insulin, etc.
Give the PDAPHR to people with chronic problems like heart disease, diabetes to have a better initial ROI.
Call Andy Grove and let him get Intel to offer the chips as part of the seed capital, let him put his money where his month is.
Startup cost about 5 Billion, cheap.