QGODUJHVW auto insurer FXVWRPHU satisfaction OLFHQVHG agents Helping people since 1936 The other guy. The choice is yours, and it’s simple. :K\VHWWOHIRURQHW\SHRIFKHHVHZKHQWKHUHDUHDZKROHYDULHW\RIćDYRUV" b The same goes for car insurance. Why go with a company that offers just a low price when GEICO could VDYH\RXKXQGUHGVDQGJLYH\RXVRPXFKPRUH"
FACT & COMMENT “With all thy getting, get understanding” HOW TO MAKE HEALTH CARE BETTER AND CHEAPER BY STEVE FORBES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF THREE BIG THINGS remain to be done to turn health care from a seemingly hopeless, ever expanding liability into a superinnovative, productivity-rich, patient-oriented market, in which the costs of cures, medicines and devices would rapidly drop. t/BUJPOXJEFTIPQQJOHGPSIFBMUIJOTVS- BODF Allow individuals to buy insurance from any company in any state. This would create a more competitive and national market. Additional companies and plans would be vying for your business. Right now if you live in New Jersey and want to buy a policy offered in Wisconsin, you’re barred from doing so. Such a change would also spur greater growth of multistate insurance plans and medical networks. House Republicans promise they will someday get around to this crucial change. The Senate should add it to its version now. t&RVBMUBYUSFBUNFOU Both individuals and employers should get tax deductions for buying health insurance (until we get the flat tax). Why should only businesses and the self-employed get tax deductions for buying insurance? Why not individuals? If we’re to get a vigorous and healthy market for individual buyers of insurance—and that’s absolutely crucial if we’re to avoid a socialist system of inferior care and a lack of innovation—we must end this tax discrimination. Even if a company offers insurance, why should that be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition for workers? If you don’t like the employer plan, you should be able to opt out and get a better one with your tax-free dollars. tćFGSFFEPNUPCVZQMBOTyouXBOU. House Republicans took baby steps toward letting states grant insurers some flexibility—if they get Uncle Sam’s permission—in coverage mandates. Obamacare’s extensive mandates enormously increased insurance premiums. Removing most, if not all, of these diktats would cut costs for individual buyers. Moreover, freeing up the market would make it easier for new types of policies and consumer choices to emerge. The Trump administration should also promulgate two huge regulatory changes. t)BWF.FEJDBSFSFRVJSFIPTQJUBMTBOEDMJOJDTUPQPTUUIF QSJDFTPGBMMQSPDFEVSFTBOETFSWJDFT In the upper New England region, for example, the price of a nuclear stress test for cardiac patients can range from $1,450 to $7,000. Fifty million Americans now have highdeductible insurance policies, mostly from their employers. Pricing transparency is becoming essential. t3FRVJSFIPTQJUBMTUPQPTUFBDINPOUI IPXNBOZQBUJFOUTIBWFEJFEGSPNJOGFD- UJPOTDPOUSBDUFEBęFSUIFZXFSFBENJUUFE. The number of deaths nationwide is nearly 100,000 a year, and you can bet that the vast majority of these could be prevented through rigorous internal measures. This would also eliminate the substantial costs associated with treating these secondary infections. All the Way With <strong>USA</strong>s! House Republicans will now be focusing on tax cuts, and there’s a great idea for a fantastic consumer-savings vehicle that the GOP should be sure to incorporate in any legislation they pass. It would be immensely popular and a major creator of capital. Called Universal Savings Accounts (<strong>USA</strong>s) by their sponsors, Senator Jeff Flake (R–AZ) and Representative Dave Brat (R–VA), these plans possess the virtues of Roth IRAs with none of the drawbacks. Everyone over the age of 18, regardless of income, could open a <strong>USA</strong> and contribute up to $5,500 a year with aftertax cash. The money would grow tax-free. You could invest it in stocks or bonds or let it sit in money-market funds. Now for its greatest feature: You could make withdrawals any time you wanted, tax-free, for whatever reason, with no penalties. There would be no Washington/IRS/congressional nannies micromanaging your choices. <strong>USA</strong>s would be so popular that Congress would soon be under great pressure to raise deposit limits, perhaps by folding in other savings vehicles, such as Roth IRAs, rollover 401(k)s (when you leave a company) and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. (Congress, take note: Britain’s ceiling JUNE <strong>13</strong>, <strong>2017</strong> FORBES | 11
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