Discussion Points

Health Care Reform

There is an interesting article in this month's edition of Inc. magazine (November 2009) on page 25 titled "How to Fix Health Care". It is formatted as a Q&A with the answers provided by John Baackes, who is CEO of Senior Whole Health. "The Cambridge, Massachusetts, company coordinates health care for patients who receive both Medicare and Medicaid, a business that has given Baackes an up-front look at the flaws of the current system."

The article can be found here: Inc. article. One observation in particular is very interesting. The author points out that employers started providing health insurance because they weren't allowed to raise wages to attract workers during the second world war. And the IRS determined that companies could consider that a business expense. Now people know less about health insurance than homeowner's or auto insurance. And in general they know little of the true cost of health care.

Mr. Baackes goes on to suggest that the government incentives to employers for providing health insurance should be discontinued. And insurance ownership should be mandatory. Then when everyone becomes an active consumer, the insurance companies would shift from offering group plans to plans based on the needs of individuals.