CHILD BONDS, UNIVERSAL 401k's, & CONVERT S-CHIP TO HSAs:

Flip S-CHIP to a tax benefit: Using tax credits to extend healthcare for poor children could set a consensus for reform. (CS Monitor, October 10, 2007)

Congress can both reach children whose parents earn more than twice the poverty level and preserve employer-based insurance. To do so, it can make money available directly to poor families, enabling them to pay for healthcare providers of their choice for their children, or pay their share of employer-based insurance.

The money can come as a tax credit for poor, working families or outright cash for families who don't earn enough to pay taxes. Such a step was recommended earlier this year by a wide coalition of groups ranging from the US Chamber of Commerce to the American Medical Association. The credit would be indexed to rising healthcare costs and based on different costs by region.

Such an idea should become the basis for a compromise between Mr. Bush and Congress, assuming his veto is upheld in the House, as expected. It could form the kernel for a wider consensus on ways to meet the needs of an estimated 46 million people who currently don't have health insurance while keeping the market-based healthcare system.

The Ownership Society is just begging to be created here.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 9, 2007 7:13 PM