Health Care & Insurance  November 11, 2016

Repeal ACA, and provide health care for all

Life is our most valuable asset.  In fact, as listed in the Declaration of Independence, life is an “unalienable” right, along with liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Because all citizens have the right to protect their life, they must also have the right to own and direct their health-care dollars toward purchases that sustain their life.  Whether a third party is a private insurer or a government health-care entity, no third party should have a mandate or control over how an individual spends their health-care dollars to maintain or improve their health.

The Health Care Ownership Act is designed so that individuals directly control where their health-care dollars are spent, not disinterested, disassociated third-party administrators.  Further, the act incentivizes all health-care providers to compete for patients who choose the most-advanced health care for the lowest possible cost.

Unfortunately, the current Affordable Care Act achieves the opposite.  By separating patients from their health-care purchase decisions, the ACA consolidates health-care providers and insurers and creates barriers to competition that sacrifice quality and affordability.  Due to the looming failures of the ACA, many of its supporters are now calling for a government-run single-payer system to replace the ACA.  A single-payer system would further sacrifice quality, access and overall affordability with even greater consequences for the future of health care and our lives.  For this reason, the ACA must be repealed and replaced with the HCOA before a single-payer system is mandated.

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The ACA does not discern differences in the U.S. health-care population, whereas the HCOA divides it into three broad groups, all of which deserve access to basic health care.  Group 1 represents a minority subpopulation in the United States consisting of those who are destitute, mentally ill or otherwise incapable or unwilling to make their own health-care decisions.  These patients represent a large portion of the uninsured in America, and although the prime objective of the ACA was to provide insurance for all, most of these patients remain uninsured and without access to health care. 

Under the HCOA, Group 1 patients are protected through government-owned or subsidized medical schools, Veterans Administration hospitals, and/or local medical clinics, not insurance.  At no charge, these clinics will specialize in treating chronic medical and behavioral conditions such as alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as treat any other illnesses.

The Group 1 clinics will also act as a safety net for all other patients who for one reason or another fall out of Groups 2 or 3 that are described below.  Therefore, Group 1 clinics function as a single-payer government health-care plan for those who are incapable to apply for insurance and/or for all others who failed to fund a health savings account.  Health-care providers and the U.S. government, by necessity, will play a larger role in making medical decisions and allocating the appropriate resources to provide the best possible care for these patients.  Regarding those advocating a single-payer system for all, do they believe that the entire U.S. population is otherwise incapable to fund or make their own health-care decisions?

Unlike Group 1, groups 2 & 3 represent those who place a high value on their lives; these people are fully capable and active at making their own exercise, diet, health-care and life decisions.  For Groups 2 & 3, the HCOA plan encourages that this group maintain personal control over how they choose to spend their health-care dollars on their health-care, exercise and diet choices.

The only difference between Groups 2 & 3 are their income levels; Group 2 is low-income, and Group 3 represents those with moderate to high income.  Both groups can contribute their pre-tax income to an individual or family health savings account (HSA) with no associated limit.  But, because Group 2 is low-income, those individuals and families can qualify for up to a $10,000 per year U.S. government subsidy to their HSA.  Because the HCOA plan will provide more choice and potentially lower monthly premiums, seniors who are currently covered under Medicare may choose to swap Medicare for an HCOA plan.  For all those participating in the HCOA over age 65, any amounts accrued in their HSA may be spent on long-term care or can be passed onto dependent HSAs.

In addition to HSAs, all patients can purchase private or government catastrophic health-care insurance with pre-tax dollars to cover illnesses that exceed $5,000 to $20,000.  If private insurers are allowed to compete nationally to provide accident and catastrophic health insurance, rates could range as low as $2,000 to $4,000 per individual per year.  The accident insurance would cover up to $10,000 in medical expenses (related to injury) and the catastrophic would cover any expenses above that amount.  Those patients who run out of HSA dollars, and/or for those who do not purchase accident/catastrophic insurance, the HCOA will still protect them under the Group 1 plan.  Even patients with pre-existing illnesses that find themselves uninsurable will have guaranteed access to health care through the Group 1 plan.

In summary, while the ACA suggests that it provides “insurance for all”, that does not equate to the intended goal of providing “health care for all.”  The HCOA provides health care for all, provides patients an incentive to stop unhealthy behaviors, and promotes competition in the medical industry to create quality results at competitive costs.

Craig Beyer is a board-certified ophthalmologist in Boulder.

Life is our most valuable asset.  In fact, as listed in the Declaration of Independence, life is an “unalienable” right, along with liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Because all citizens have the right to protect their life, they must also have the right to own and direct their health-care dollars toward purchases that sustain their life.  Whether a third party is a private insurer or a government health-care entity, no third party should have a mandate or control over how an individual spends their health-care dollars to maintain or improve their health.

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