Before voting to support the 900 billion dollar plan that Congress will tackle after the summer recess, read and consider this plan to set up model low-cost non-mandated Public VA hospitals that
As President Obama tries to persuade Congress to pass mandated health insurance legislation, it appears that no one has yet drafted a workable plan to achieve quality heath care that is affordable, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans. There is not a shred of evidence that the 1000 page bill before Congress will achieve any of the three objectives listed above but the plan I propose below will achieve all these objectives and more. Here is my proposal.
The plan is for the Federal Government to buy up hospitals that are closed, bankrupt or losing money and have them run by the military and the Veterans Administration as "Public VA Hospitals" that offer both the general public and veterans a full range of low cost health care options including low cost alternative therapies along with generic drugs. Any patented, generic drug or alternative medicine costing more than $50 a month would not be used.
While Medical Corpsmen have offered medical services to civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, they can also offer the same services to the American people and at a fraction of today's costs. Our servicemen and veterans do not need health insurance polices to obtain treatment and the medical corpsmen in the military don't get paid 6 figure salaries of 100K to a million dollars a year or more as occurs in many hospitals.
Low cost generic drugs and low cost alternative therapies would be the primary medicines used. Patented drugs would only be considered if made available to the US Government at the same price as they are sold in 3rd world countries and only if they are needed after considering or using other low cost treatments.
Existing VA hospitals would continue to ONLY service veterans, but the Public VA hospitals would be open TO BOTH the general public and to veterans. This would not only serve the general public but also increase the number of locations where veterans can obtain medical care. The "Public VA hospitals," like existing VA hospitals, would place all medical records on computers to prevent prescription errors and lost records.
The public at large would be offered free or low cost diagnostic services and a full range of low cost treatment options. No one would be required to have an insurance policy to be treated at a Public VA hospital and no one would be refused treatment. Everyone without insurance would be charged on a sliding scale according to their ability to pay. No liens would be placed against your house, car, or retirement accounts within reasonable limits. The benefits are:
The three dominant factors driving health care costs today are
None of the health plans I have read about reduce the cost of patented drugs and no plan offers the public access to the thousands of alternative therapies used successfully throughout the world that would vastly improve the quality of health care.
Unless we bring down the cost of the medicines we use and train health care professionals on how to use low cost alternative therapies, the plan to mandate health insurance to everyone under the present system of market and regulatory driven patented drugs imposed on doctors and the public will lead the nation and the government to bankruptcy. It will not achieve affordable health care goals.
The plan for Public VA Hospitals (available to the public and veterans) deserves the utmost consideration of all thinking policy makers. Catering to the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies is not the answer. A bill that forces more of the same on the American people is not change that we can believe in. It is time for the government to lead by example (not coercion).
On Sept 24, 2008. when the Federal Reserve Board under Chairman Ben Bernanke authorized the New York Federal Reserve Bank to loan AIG $85 billion dollars as a two year loan, it was the first of several more to come.
The Federal Reserve does not use taxpayer money to make these loans, they just write a check and create the money as a bookkeeping entry deposit in the hard drive of their computers. To back up their loans, all 12 Federal Reserve Bank can purchase currency from the Bureau of Mint and Engraving at the cost of printing. The currency is used to back up the Federal Reserve loans and purchases of securities and is also exchanged for deposits held by member banks.
Federal law requires that profits made by the 12 Federal Reserve Banks are turned over to the US Treasury at the end of each fiscal year. The current interest rate charged for loans from the Federal Reserve are less than 1/2 of 1% per annum. At that rate, we should be getting mortgages in the 3% range but we are not.
According to CNN bailout tracker, the Federal Reserve has already invested 1.4 trillion to help prevent big banks and corporations from going under including AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, Bear Stearns, mortgage backed securities from Freddie and Fannie MAC, corporate securities and many more.
All this credit given to the banks and big Wall St corporations was suppose to trickle down to Main St, but here you find almost 20% of the offices and businesses closed. It is hard to see how all this credit advanced to those at the top of the money and business pyramid has benefited the people at the bottom.
The response of MasterCard and Visa credit card companies has been merciless. They have doubled the interest rates they charge and often more than doubled the minimum monthly payments. This has put an even bigger squeeze on those already hard pressed to make ends meet. The bill passed by Congress to reform the credit card system has not yet taken effect and it does not contain any limits on the rates credit card companies can charge. Those rates can go up to an outrageous 29% .
The solution: The Federal Reserve Banks would provide the long term funds for credit cards at a wholesale rate of 1% APR to local banks and credit unions. Local Credit Unions and banks would charge no more than 3% APR to the public for the use of these credit cards. The amount of credit made available would be subject to the ability of the individual to pay it back and with realistic credit limits. If inflation results from too much credit, it could easily be reversed by restricting the amount of credit made available without increasing the interest rates.
In the same way, the Federal Reserve can restrict the money supply by increasing the reserve requirements of the banks without raising interest rates.
At an interest rate of 3%, people can make purchases and still see the light at the end of their financial tunnel. Finally, Congress should also extend unemployment benefits indefinitely for any state where the unemployment rate exceeds 6%.