An Alternative Approach to Health Care Reform

In an October 12th article from Forbes, author John E. Girouard offers a unique solution in the ongoing battle to reform health care. The centerpiece of Girouard's solution--eliminating the profit motive and its consequences by forming nonprofit health centers to deal with primary care concerns. Girouard begins his piece by referencing early 20th century America to show that community based medicine is not unprecedented in the US. He proceeds to outline the three major facets of his reform package. First, these nonprofit companies would charge lower premiums and cover all citizens (by means of a government mandate similar to what is being proposed now). Second, nonprofit insurance companies would purchase insurance. The author proposes "reinsurance", where competition and market forces would be retained by the actual insurers. Finally, the author defines the role of the government in his plan. The government would act as a regulator and ultimate insurer. He draws an analogy to the government's role in insuring bank deposits to clarify the extent of government involvement. The author touts his proposal as appeasing to all parties--particularly liberals disdain for the role of the market in health care and conservatives disdain for large government interference.