A healthy alternative.

• Author: Rundles, Jeff
• Position: RUNDLES [wrap-up] - Editorial

With all the talk of health-care reform going on these days, and the scary situation that most of this talk is going on in the United States Congress--where members seem more adept at being against what the other guys propose rather than embracing solutions--I thought I'd weigh in.

I'm just a guy. I have no political agenda, and no special interests lobby me. I am a purchaser of health insurance, a consumer of medical services from time to time, and, like many people, I worry about rising costs, and the prospect of having my access to health care limited. I am also in business, so I understand the burden of business owners in managing costs associated with providing health care.

And I'll be honest: The idea of the government offering a competitive health-care plan to balance out the private sector, or indeed have the government run a single-payer national health-care system, appalls me. My personal experience over the years is that when the government, any government, operates anything, it is inefficient, mind-numbingly un-consumer oriented, and too expensive. And any time the government says it will cost X. 2X is more like what will actually occur.

In a conversation with a very smart friend the other day, he said he doesn't believe the popular "conventional wisdom" that there are some 45 million with no health care and little or no access to it. As he pointed out, the elderly and the very poor have Medicare and Medicaid, or just outright charity at hospital emergency rooms The rest of the presumed people without coverage fall into two categories: those who have decided not to buy coverage because it is too expensive for them, and illegal aliens, the latter group bringing up a whole other can of worms beyond health care.

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Here's what I propose, and I know it is simplistic, but it makes sense to me:

Since the issue is, apparently, more about affordability than it is about access, let's change the rules. Health insurance, all of it, should be provided by private sector companies in competition, no Medicare or Medicaid. And rather than look at "group" coverage the way we do now--people in giant companies get better rates than those in smaller companies or as singles in the open market--make everyone eligible (which is everyone, once you settle on the illegal immigrant issue) in one "group." In other words, we all get the largest group rate; no exclusions, no banning pre-existing conditions.

Then have each individual, or...