SINCE HEALTH CARE IS JUST ANOTHER CONSUMER GOOD THESE DAYS...

What Healthcare and Higher Education Have in Common (Jon Hall, 03 May 2007, Tech Central Station)

The cure for healthcare inflation—and a great many other things, for that matter—is competition. And the way to get competition is by withholding funds, not assuring them. That's why Health Savings Accounts are so attractive. HSAs keep money out of the healthcare pipeline until you need it. And HSAs are also a fine incentive to improve your health by changing your lifestyle and habits, so that you won't have to tap into your own money.

The solution to the problem of multiple-payers in healthcare is not "single-payer", the "universal" system preferred by some reformists. Not if it means another government-run monopoly. (Government hates monopolies, except, of course, for government monopolies.)

Speaking of "universal": Congress should enact a nationwide law that allows all workers to divert their share of their company's health insurance budget into HSAs. That way if a company goes bust, like Enron, or stops providing health insurance to its employees, employees who have chosen this opt-out will at least have some healthcare money set aside. And because they would be universal, such HSAs would be portable, making it easier to change jobs, thereby making for a more dynamic economy.

...turn the power of the consumer loose.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 3, 2007 7:53 PM