Atlasian Chamber of Commerce- Healthcare Reform: White Paper, Resources, Tie-In

[Potus]

Atlasian Chamber of Commerce

The Atlasian Chamber of Commerce is an organization founded to promote pro-growth policy at every level of government. Through policy work, litigation, and political organizing, workers and business will have an organization dedicated to making their lives better and Atlasia work

[NeverAgain]

Very interesting. I look forward to seeing this policy initiative in action.

[Leinad]

Sounds good, I look forward to seeing more detailed policy stuff being rolled out!

[Kingpoleon]

I might sign on.

[NeverAgain]

I seek the endorsement of this institution, as my goals for Governor of the South are focused strongly on growth of our region, seeking to help workers and businesses, and for the betterment of the common man. I cannot promise you agreement on all issues, but I have two listening ears and I want common-sense solutions to our problems.

Therefore, I would be honored and privileged to have your support in this race.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

You mean growth of potus and friends' bank accounts thanks to outsourcing jobs?

[Potus]

White Paper #1:  Healthcare Reform
Improving Quality, Lowering Costs, and Expanding Access

Healthcare in our country has been dysfunctional for years. A crude, ill-conceived network of massive public programs, byzantine regulations, and a fundamental misconception of markets have long characterized the flawed system.

Healthcare made up 17.5% of GDP in 2015. Of those expenditures, governments at various level make up over 50% of spending. Those with an unfavorable view of enterprise propose varying degrees of nationalization of the remaining half of health expenditure. They promise improved access and quality while also promise dramatic reductions in national health expenditure. Promises of "Medicare for All" will yield "Medicaid for All," a disaster for our country. Medicaid, through a myriad of failures including lagging reimbursements, chronic over-spending, poor health outcomes, and narrowing options for patients, paints a bleak picture of the future of American healthcare. A new vision, reform, is needed to replace this status quo.

Reform will be a departure from the centralized, bureaucratic approach of the past. The Chamber supports transferring power and resources to patients in order to spur increased quality and access while lowering costs.

The first piece of this broader reform will create universal health savings accounts. These tax-free, interest bearing accounts may be used to cover deemed, out-of-pocket healthcare costs. It is important to understand that patients own their accounts. These are a patient-centered component.

Deregulation of the various healthcare industries, such as providers, insurers, or prescription drug development, is necessary to open markets to new competition. Governments, both federal and regional, ought to take action to eliminate undue regulatory burden on healthcare industries to lower costs and spur the competition for quality.

Medicare Part D is a highly successful, market-based program that consistently comes in under budget and over performing. Patients are tremendously happy with their Medicare Part D coverage. The Medicare Part D model of competition and subsidies can serve as a perfect model for expanding access to health insurance. Patients should be able to determine their own mix, when adjusting for age and income, of health savings dollars and subsidy applied to health insurance premiums.

Stability and peace of mind matters. Businesses, employers, and other groups should have the opportunity to purchase group plans. The vast majority of Atlasian families and businesses will see the marketplace improve without losing access to their existing plan.

Public health insurance schemes, despite their aptitude at providing peace of mind to the elderly and disadvantaged, have operated as financial programs rather than health programs. Healthcare reform should encompass all Americans, the elderly and the disadvantaged, into a dynamic new healthcare system. This major departure from the status quo of encroaching government can work for all Atlasians if properly legislation is designed and passed.

Enrollment in the new healthcare system would be beneficial for current Medicare/Medicaid enrollees. Private insurance, which reimburses on the basis of cost rather than a Soviet-style fee structure, is much more portable and widely accepted than defective public insurance. The fast food worker who could never seem to get ahead would be able to get the same health insurance as the bank president. With a dynamic, market-based systemic reform, they could both have access to the same top-tier hospitals and doctors.

Healthcare will not be fixed with more of the same. Greater expansions of government power and taxpayer money will not deliver the results we've been promised. The Chamber supports a dynamic, market-based reform that draws on the success of past healthcare legislation to improve quality, expand access, and lower costs for every citizen.

[Potus]

Resources:  Healthcare Reform
Improving Quality, Lowering Costs, and Expanding Access

Medicare Part D as Model for Success

Third Way: How Medicare Part D Beat the Odds—and Why Policymakers Should Care

Conservative Reform Network: THE MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM
A MODEL FOR BROADER HEALTH CARE REFORM

Galen Institute: MEDICARE PART D: A MODEL FOR FUTURE ENTITLEMENT REFORM

Health Savings Accounts and Patient-Centered Healthcare

Health Affairs: Health Savings, Patient Centeredness combined with Medicare Part D Style Exchange saves billions, increases insured rate by 12.1 million relative to ACA

AEI: How-To Health Savings Accounts, Universal Exchanges, Open Markets, and Ownership of Healthcare

Negative Impact of Regulations, Overbearing Bureaucracy

American Bar Association: CON Laws Prescription for Higher Costs

Heritage: FDA Reform Catalyst for New Treatments, Lower Costs

American Spectator: High Price of Medical Patent System

[Potus]

TIE-IN:  Civil Litigation Reform
Fair Courts and Prosperous People

Defensive medicine, the practice of carrying out tests, examinations, and other medical procedures to avoid legal liability in the event of a malpractice claim, is a major driver of healthcare spending. Some estimates suggest nearly $600 billion in annual medical spending is the product of liability-driven medicine.

A well-known civil litigation reform group has extensively documented lower government reforms to medical liability. The Chamber strongly supports standalone legislation, concurrently effective with the larger healthcare reform legislation, to address defensive medicine and put patients, not lawsuits, first.