| With the Michigan legislature proposing cuts to state employee health care, and the debate on national health care, here's my proposal for combining the issues. Let's call this the "Michigan Plan", along the lines of our founding fathers' Connecticut Plan and Virginia Plan. Medicare Patriotic Health Plan: currently 65 years and older. Medicorps Heroic Health Plan: currently military veterans and dependents. Eligibility for both plans should expand to include all Medicaid, S-CHIP, and other grant recipients; current and former Americorps, Peace Corps, Vista, federal, state, municipal, and other not-for-profit employees; and their immediate family; and dependents through age 21. This provides a competitive choice. This competition would be with any other private plans that are available. Who could argue with good ol' fashioned American competition? |
| Simply update eligibility requirements. Rather than a massive overhaul, it could be split into three Congressional bills. Leave the regulatory parts in the 1,000 page master plan. It should make good political sense to "expand the Medicare health system" and "expand the Veteran's health system." Dare the opponents to vote against major bills for seniors and defense. To placate the "moderates" that want a trigger for a public plan, add gradual expansion of the eligibility. It will take time to implement, so use those months and years to assess the progress of the private plans. In any year that the median cost private health plan (for full medical, including dental and mental health) exceeds the median cost of all plans (including Medicare and Medicorps plans), expand the general population age of eligibility by 11 years. That is, the Medicare upper age will drop from 65 to 54, 43, 32, 21 and younger. The Medicare and Medicorps lower age will rise from 21 to 32, 43, 54, 65 and older. At the rate of likely private costs, we'll have one fully available to the general population in 3 years, and two competing plans available to the general population in 5 years. We'll quickly discover whether private enterprise really is more efficient than government.... |
