'Medicare for all' just won't work

As much as I would like to believe that a national health care system, a "Medicare for all" plan, would work, I can't be a proponent of such a system. Many individuals take no responsibility for their own health. Caregivers are still learning how to manage chronic conditions and patients are not compliant. Political party divisions are too deep to expect that reasonable people will work together to arrive at something positive

We must turn to a market-based system

Key components needed:

1. High limit Health Savings Accounts enabled through tax code changes;

2. Secure investment options for accumulated funds;

3. Catastrophic insurance programs available at higher deductible levels;

4. Provider based fees published on the internet;

5. State/federal control over cost of services provided on an emergent basis.

Individuals would take more interest in the cost of care if they were paying from their own funds. They would be more interested in avoiding those things that make them less than healthy and doing what can keep them well. But then that is an individual choice; not a government mandate.

Caregivers will be responsive in a competitive environment. Individuals will become shoppers. Locating caregivers who offer both quality care and competitive prices will bring costs of care down quickly. Administrative cost, estimated to be approximately 25-35 percent of the total $2.7 trillion annual expenditure, might be significantly reduced.

Insurance companies are not happy with the current environment. Many vendors have begun to see deterioration in their profit projections and are withdrawing their products. Insurance companies through the years have proven to be amazingly creative in their offerings to the public. They will continue to be creative as we seek to remove from our economy this incredible burden of illogical, ineffective health care.

Richard May

Palatine,