Affordable Health Care Problem Solved (updated 2020)

Affordable Health Care starts with doing away with letting the insurance industry dictate the price for treatment and services. Instead, the pricing for minor medical should be determined by what the market will bear.

Health insurance should be optional and only cover major medical treatment and procedures. Minor medical, such as treatment for a sore throat, should be priced according to free-market competition.

A typical doctor's visit takes about 20 minutes. Health care providers should be forced to provide quality services and a comfortable environment for their patients. Moreover, they should be transparent with their pricing, and the price should be determined by the socio-economic status of the area being served.

It is plausible to use the analogy of food when speaking about health care: We all need food to survive, and there are several “quality” levels of food. Suppliers and vendors all strive to produce the best quality at each cost level.

For example, you can shop in many different grocery stores, and you can dine in a variety of restaurants, all for varying levels of cost.

Why not force the doctors and all their cronies to charge what the actual consumer will pay for their care and the environment they provide to the patient instead of what some insurance company's budget will pay?

Current Cost of Health Insurance Under the Affordable Care Act

In 2018, the average cost for an individual's health insurance was $440/month ($5,280/year). A family of two or more paid $1,168/month ($14,016/year).

Unsubsidized Individual Premiums Under the Affordable Care Act

Unsubsidized Family Premiums Under the Affordable Care Act

Who Has A Primary Care Provider?

In July 2018, the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a national poll of 1,200 randomly selected adults. They found that 26% of those surveyed did not have a primary care provider. Interestingly, there was a difference among age groups: 45% in the 18 to 29-year old group reported having no primary-care provider; in contrast to the 28% within the 30 to 49-year old group; 18% of the 50 to 64-year old group, and 12% percent aged 65 and older without a primary-care provider.

One-fourth of Adults and Nearly Half of Adults Under 30
Do Not Have a Primary Care Physician.
Source: KFF Tracking Poll

A Free Market Approach  

Imagine being free to choose your doctor for everything but major medical without insurance and pay a transparent fee for the visit, just like you do for food. Sometimes you dine at the top of the four seasons, and occasionally you eat in the basement.

Imagine having the ability to receive the attention of a doctor at a typical doctor’s office rather than wondering if your lack of the "Platinum Health Care Policy" will keep you from getting the best treatment.  

All of us are free to walk into any medical facility and receive a set price list for medical treatment (similar to the menu at a restaurant), healthcare, and pay for the services using officially recognized payment methods (i.e., cash, credit card).

Those of you wondering about malpractice are one of the reasons the doctors charge so much now. How about this, the care providers will treat their patients with the best procedures and products available? And, let’s move those complaints against providers under Tort Law, and yes, the providers will lose their license to practice and livelihood if found negligent in their treatment or care.

All physicians currently make a wage that sets them within the top 10% of all wage earners within the  United States of America.

How Much Would You Pay?

My plan would be to let physicians choose their own price for services. The smart ones would find out how much patients are willing to spend to have a clinician take a quick look down their throat, into their ears, and up their nose within 17.5-minutes. 

If you actually visit a doctor's office twice a year and pay an insurance premium of $440 per month, the office visits alone cost $2640 each. 

If you calculate this over 20 years, 18 to 38 years of age, when the person is healthiest, that a person on average will pay $105,600 for current health insurance.

That money, if invested conservatively, would earn just over $46,200 for a total of $151,800

So, even if the same person needed treatments totaling $100,000 over those 20 years, they would still have $51,800 remaining.

The Major Medical Care Issue

The problem of major-medical services must still be addressed. I believe a simple plan might be suitable to address this issue: increase the sales tax on all purchases to subsidize hospital services by 70%. The remaining 30% could be covered either as an out of pocket expense or through a private insurance policy. Which, of course, demands more consideration but to start, I believe we should:

1. Establish private insurance companies that allow you to receive any type of medical treatment at any medical facility privatized (for profit) or public (non-profit) within the country.
2. The purchase price of the insurance would be 5% of their income. Income could be the previous year’s annual income or the most recent pay stub. If a person does not have a pay stub, a formula could be used to determine their income: 15% of one's mortgage or rent to cover 1 adult. Each subsequent resident, you require an additional 5% of the housing payment up to a total of 35%. The 35% fee would cover 2 documented residents per bedroom. Therefore a 4 bedroom house policy could cover 8 people at 35% of the mortgage or rental note unless 5% of the total household income is established to be higher.
3. The unemployed and homeless would be forced to rely on public medical facilities. These facilities would be established as the market dictated or use the emergency room of any medical facility. A portion of the sales tax allocated for these expenses would subsidize payment for this medical treatment.
4. Illegal immigrants would not be eligible for the care described above. Instead, they would not be provided for in the same methods as those immigrating legally or citizens.
5. Those on visas, resident alien status, or having otherwise entered the country legally for any length of time are eligible to use the pay for services system or purchase a short term insurance policy for a price that would be determined by individual insurance companies.

Reasonably, priced health care must first start with the reformation of malpractice insurance. Patients that are victims of malpractice should be given the right and encouraged to sue the responsible parties. However, before attempting to file suit against a medical professional, facility, and those working within the facility, there should be some screening that safeguards against frivolous litigation.

All medical professionals would be required to have some method of financially compensating victims of their malpractice. How this is determined could be by a federally mandated minimum of say $1,000,000 not to exceed $30,000,000. This fund could be provided either by an insurance company or held in a private investment account. Health care providers that choose the individual investment account must provide proof of the liquid assets quarterly to maintain licensure and operate legally.

OPINION: US Citizens Must Unite

United States citizens should spend more time coming together and working toward solutions to our issues rather than allowing ourselves to be divided. Dividing ourselves into categories defined by labels such as far-left, centrist, and far-right removes our power as a united group.

More so today than I can remember, dating back to the mid-1970s, a strong faction is genuinely opposed to what the United States of America can produce and accomplish if we came together and presented a unified front.

To Overpower A Large Group, Break It Into Smaller Ones

If the goal is to conquer a large group, it is common knowledge that you should do your best to divide a unified group into smaller factions. Better yet, create a situation where the separate groups recognize and believe in the divisions and work vigorously (even violently against each other) to maintain the divisions.

This situation results in the spokesperson for one of the divisions and their followers publically speaking out against the other divisions. Of course, this is healthy and can strengthen the overall group if the objections are kept internal and not leaked to a larger, opposing, and perhaps equally formidable group.

Such a leak is powerful ammunition for the opposition. Strategic use of such divisive opinions from insiders can lead to a quick fall from power.

They don't want to see us unite:

all they want us to do is keep on fussing and fighting.

They don't want to see us live together:

all they want us to do is keep on killing one another.

— Bob Marley

Smaller Units Are Easy To Obliterate

You would agree that no human can snap a healthy, mature pine tree into pieces with only their bare hands, correct? But what if we could change the scenario and turn that pine tree into toothpicks? Thereby dividing the once strong and unified tree into much smaller units - toothpicks. 

Then, it is easy to snap that pine tree into bits of dust with your bare hands and with little effort. One toothpick at a time, the pine trees are destroyed.

Get the idea? Splinter the massive, powerful, wealthy, intelligent, unified force known as the United States of America into smaller groups or even into individuals, and use a team of three to take out each individual until they are no longer threats or eliminated. A three-on-one battle ensures victory for the attacking group.

Change The Rules Of Socially Acceptable Behavior

Another strategy involves changing the rules of social behavior. For example, create a scenario where everyone is right based solely on their feelings. Just because you disagree with a particular set of facts does not immediately make your opinion correct.

Allowing all people to be "right" based on their emotional response to the events creates a paradigm where emotional responses are equal to those using facts and concrete evidence. Moreover, allowing people to use only their fanaticism and emotions to question and disrespect persons in positions of authority will only continue to divide us. 

Empowering Ignorant and Emotion-Based Inquiry

When authority is questioned, and this line of questioning is hyped up by presenting a limited scope of information and appeals to emotion rather than reason, a breakdown of trust is imminent. Public acceptance of disrespectful behavior results in disrespect toward all. This includes all you may encounter, from the stranger on the street to your family members.

Accepting this disrespectful behavior, the belief that all people in positions of authority should be publically questioned (even in front of the opponent) and the subsequent breakdown in the chain of command can splinter even the most robust units.

We Must Remain Vigilant And Focused

Those wanting to destroy what we have are all around us, bombarding us with false information and the promise of a better life. Breaking down the unified group into smaller groups. Convincing the smaller groups that the others are responsible for their woes.

This allows our opponents to infiltrate the smaller groups, and unless they are stopped immediately, the larger group is open to an attack from within. This attack might begin with adjusting what is acceptable behavior. Changing the landscape, empowering ignorant questioning, honoring those who engage in disrespectful behavior, and allowing emotion, not rational evidence-based, to define what is "right."

The only chance a country or a large group that functions best when unified has is to remain vigilant and focused on staying unified. Members must shun public defiance of the group's principles by dissenters and keep confederates from becoming members or maintaining membership.

I hope some event unifies us and "forces" us all to identify solely as Americans without the ridiculous classifications (far-left, left, left-center, center, right-center, right, far-right), just AMERICAN and proud. 

When unified, we can kick the opposition's butt and protect our way of life.

Illegal Aliens Commit More Crimes In Proportion to Legal Residents and Citizens

The proportion of illegals sentenced in federal courts is 3.5 times more than the percentage of illegals living in the United States.

It seems that there is some confusion about this fact among those advocating for the rights of immigrants.

Immigrant rights advocates blasted the amendment as a thinly veiled attempt by Republicans to legitimize the Trump administration's continuous claims that undocumented immigrants are violent criminals. Multiple studies have shown that despite the Trump administration's protestations, immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than their United States-born counterparts. -Massoud Hayoun There's An Anti-Immigrant Amendment Tucked Into Dems Gun Control Bill

How Many Illegals Live In The United States of America?

In 2016, 10.7 million illegal aliens were living in the U.S. representing 3.3% of the total U.S. population. The number of illegals living in the U.S. has been declining, but for this critique, it favors my opponents to overestimate this number. So in the interest of fairness, I will risk slight error.

The Federal Sentencing Statistics compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission provide the truth about the disproportionate number of illegals sentenced in a federal court.

The Number of Sentences Issued By Federal Judges To Illegal Immigrants

During the fiscal year of 2017, the total number of federal sentences, excluding immigration crimes, was 45,954. U.S. Citizens were sentenced 37,478 (81.56%) times, and illegals were convicted 5,361 (11.67%) times. The data is shown in the table below.

Conclusions

Yes, it is evident that those making up a small number of a population would be sentenced less than the majority. However, when you examine the data, in proportion to the number of people living in the U.S. illegals commit a much higher number of crimes. If the number of illegals sentenced was proportionately equal to or less than the amount living in the U.S., 1,516 (3.3%) not 5,361 (11.67%) of the 45,954 total sentences would be issued to illegals.

Proportionately, illegals are sentenced 3.5 times more than citizens.

There is no need for any studies on this topic as the data is collected every year as mandated by the Sentencing Reform Act provisions of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984.

President Trump's First Year Was Good, But Stick To The Facts

We Are Done Listening to Lies

 We Are Smarter & More Aware Than You Believe Us To Be 

"Is our a 'government of the people by the people for the people,' or a Kakistocracy rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools" - James Russell Lowell, 1876 

The Current and Past 2 Liars

Come on Mr. Trump and stop with all your exaggerations and lies man! You are the President of The United States of America.

We Have Access To The Truth

We all have phones more powerful than the computers NASA was privy to in 1969. So we can just look at our phones and say "Hey Google..."; "Hey Siri..." and check your statements.

You Embarrass Us

Further, the people you govern, independent of how they voted, care about who represents them. We also are embarrassed when you show your stupidity spouting or tweeting some ridiculous lies.

You donkeys remember when Barry forgot the Un in Affordable, and it was mistakenly named the Affordable Care Act?

Mr. G.W. Bush, is it possible that you were trying to prove your estimated IQ of 125 was indeed 81? Lord, you sure had a way of coming across as the dumbest person in the vicinity. Mr. Bush every single time you tried to say something meaningful, you just went full-blown Texas Ass Big on the Dumbass dint-cha? You could not help yourself.

And Mr. Clinton, you little pervert, you redefined the boundaries for all those that thought commitment, partnership, and marriage were about something.

You All Fall Short On Ethics And Integrity

I suppose the oval office has a way of changing your understanding of core values, you know the behaviors and characteristics we perceive our Founding Fathers to possess.

You all fall brutally short of the ethical behavior my four-year-old son shows; and, it is unknown if he even knows wrong vs. right yet.

I Do Not Think You Intend To Deceive Us

I do not think any of you men nor all of the ones in modern history that were given the responsibility of the presidency actually intended to become stoned out goofball jackholes.

However, Lord is it possible to get a miracle to help our boy Donald J. Trump? He is just beyond ridiculous on the liar scale.

Yes, President Trump, I understand it, you are something new, a change, you speak from the hip, and whatever other excuses for your dumbassery, the right-wing nuts will post in your defense. But I am growing tired of hearing about your lies. I am wondering if you approach your role as President with the same low level of preparation that you put forth when Tweeting?

The Best We Have, Really?

It blows my mind that Hillary Clinton (Clinton V2) was the best candidate the DNC could produce. Moreover, the Democrats already voiced their opinion on her when she lost the party's nomination to Obama.

Then to top it off the Democrats wanted Trump to win the GOP Nomination. Again, I ask all of you, were Hillary and The Donald the best we could muster for Presidential candidates?

Are you all on some sort of hallucinogen? If so, you should pass some legislation and sell that shit you are taking over the counter. Perhaps if we had some, we would see your distorted reality.

Let's Check The Facts On Statements That Matter

Mr. President, we do not care about your ridiculous Tweets. For example, how could you believe your State of The Union Address in 2018 was the most watched in history? Get over yourself, as a constituent I care about our country's overall health not what you think of yourself. So, now here are some essential facts about your first year in office. It was not bad at all you have done well, not the best in history, not even close, but you have done well.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,
“Table 1.1.6 Real Gross Domestic Product,
Chained Dollars," Gross Domestic Product (accessed February 5, 2018)

Trump's First Year GDP

Your first year in office resulted in a real GDP increase of 2.3%. As many have pointed out, Obama's first year in office was not as prosperous, and the Real GDP was a dismal -2.86%.  However, Trump's 2.3% is far from the best in history, even recent history. Clinton, GW Bush, and Obama all had at least 3 years higher. In fact, every year of Clinton's presidency produced a GDP above 2.65%. Moreover, Trump's first year GDP was less than 2.57% the average GDP for all Republicans since 1961.

The GDP Under Democrats vs. Republicans

The average REAL GDP under a Democrat as president averages 3.52% since 1961; and, 2.57% under Republicans during the same time.

President Trump your first year REAL GDP pales in comparison to those that have come before you. 

The Total Hours Worked During Trump's First Year  

Source: BLS Division of Major Sector Productivity 

President Trump congratulations as the population increased so did the total number of hours worked by salary and hourly workers in the nonfarm sectors. Your 249.667 billion was 1.56% higher than Obama's last year. This indeed allows you to boast about the having the highest number in this category. Your percent change, however, is nothing to brag about. The previous four presidents all saw percent changes higher than yours.

Levels of Unemployment

President Trump, once again you are correct that your 4.1% unemployment rate is low. However, it is not the lowest in history. In 2000, the US unemployment rate was 4.0% as it was in 1956. The lowest unemployment rate was 2.9% in 1953. Other lower unemployment rates include 3.2% in 1952, 3.7% in 1951, and 3.4% in 1948.

According to IECONOMICS this translates to the number of unemployed persons in the United States increased to 6,684,000 from 6,576,000 during December 2017. But, the number of employed persons rose to 154,430,000 from 154,021,000 in December 2017.

The all-time average for unemployed persons remains at 6,606,880, and the projection for February 2018 is 6,721,990. Employed Persons averaged 104,180,650 and is projected to be 154,488,770 in February 2018.

Twitter Advice for President Trump

Just stop.

To The Other Elected Federal Officials

We all know that the success and failures are not determined by only the President. Mr. Trump you might want to realize that you alone are not responsible for any of the above data. So here is a message to those of you serving in Congress: get over your damn selves and realize you are one of us too; and, your responsibility is to serve our desires not that of only 4 or 5 donors.

Yes, PAUL RYAN I AM LOOKING AT YOU.