By Carl Sampson
I had a few minutes this afternoon, so I thought I’d not only solve the health care crisis but as a bonus, solve the problem of illegal immigration.
First, here’s a quick reminder of how my health-care plan would work. Every legal resident receives full medical and dental coverage for the first $5,000 annually.
Everything is 100 percent covered and includes annual physicals, preventive care, and classes to quit smoking or lose weight – everything except purely cosmetic surgery like face lifts. If someone wants to look younger or pretty, they’re on their own to pay the cost.
To gain access to this coverage, each legal resident would have to purchase $5,000 deductible health-care insurance from a private company.
The states would pay the premiums for anyone who is either unemployed or on welfare and can’t afford the insurance. There are many benefits in my plan.
First, it will work, and it will cap the federal government’s health-care expenses. In 2009, Medicare alone amounted to 20 percent of all federal spending and the trend is heading through the roof with no limit in sight. My plan sets a ceiling on federal health care spending that will never go higher.
Second, it will remove the burden on employers to supply health insurance, allowing them use that money for something else. If the employer is generous, it might pay the premium for the $5,000-deductible insurance, which would likely be a bargain because 305 million people are buying it.
Third, it will decrease the cost of health care. Doctors and hospitals supply a lot of free health care to patients who can’t afford it. They can do that in part because they overcharge those patients who do have insurance. My plan removes this double burden.
So what does this have to do with illegal immigration, you might ask.
Health care could be used a carrot in entice illegal immigrants to come out of the illegal shadows and become citizens.
If an illegal immigrant becomes sick, all he or she would have to do is sign a contract to pay a fine, which would be amortized over 10 years. For example, it could be $1,000 a year. By the end of the 10 years, he or she would have to have learned English and become a U.S. citizen. If not, he or she would receive transportation back to his or her home country.
As a part of the contract, they would have to purchase health insurance, the same as citizens. If they cannot afford the insurance, they would receive transport back to their home country, courtesy of Uncle Sam. Immigrants come here to work, so this should not be a problem.
This would assure that everyone in the U.S. is fully covered, and that everyone is in the country legally.
Yes, it would be expensive, but the main result is that every one of us would be able to afford annual medical and dental check-ups and improve our health instead of not seeking health care until we’re seriously ill.
There, I’m done. I’m sure someone will contact me and tell me that Congress could do better.
That is something I’d like to see.
