1. Make insurance affordable. Give Americans the choice of a generous tax credit or the ability to deduct the value of their health insurance up to a certain amount.
2. Make health insurance portable. Allow individuals to buy insurance across state lines and encourage employer coverage that goes with employees to their new jobs.
3. Meet the needs of the chronically ill. Foster health plans that specialize in managing chronic diseases, as some Medicare Advantage plans already do.
4. Allow doctors and patients to control costs. Doctors should have the freedom to repackage and re-price services like advising patients by phone or e-mail.
5. Don’t cut Medicare. Don’t carry out the Democrats’ plan to cut Medicare by $500 billion because it would create new unfunded liabilities for the next generation.
6. Protect early retirees. Help employers provide individually-owned insurance at group rates for retirees who have not yet reached Medicare age.
7. Inform consumers. Provide patients with a treasure chest of Medicare claims data to help them make healthcare decisions.
8. Eliminate junk lawsuits. Initiate caps on non-economic damages, “loser-pays” laws, alternative dispute resolution and protection for following standards of care.
9. Stop healthcare fraud. Use approaches such as enhanced coordination of benefits, third-party liability verification and electronic payment.
10. Make medical breakthroughs accessible to patients. Speed up approval of breakthrough drugs, innovative devices and new therapies to treat rare diseases.
Read the Wall Street Journal’s opinion piece on health reform.
