Healthcare

Unlike some, I do not consider healthcare a “basic human right”, but rather a privilege that should be available to all in an otherwise wealthy society. But that includes most modern societies, which means it is effectively a human right.

Healthcare is a vital governmental service, and as such, should be supported in multiple ways, including the following policies:

  • We need more healthcare providers! Provide free tuition to qualifying medical students as long as they perform well in their studies, with the additional caveat that they are then under an obligation to work in underserved (e.g. rural) areas for a period of time (5 years?) upon graduation. Doctors who fail to perform in their studies would be dropped, and those that fail to fulfill their service would be charged for their education, with interest.
  • We need to continue technological progress in healthcare science, but governmental funding should not be in the form of grants, but rather venture capital investments. Invest in basic pharmaceutical and healthcare research, and retain government intellectual property rights to the results of such research
  • Everyone deserves healthcare, and everyone should pay. Implement free basic single-payer healthcare (i.e. Medicare) for all citizens, funded by taxation. This taxation should be explicit, as it currently is for Medicare, in order to provide transparency and to avoid redirection of the money to other programs. 
    • Exclude cosmetic surgery and frivolous procedures that are not medically necessary
  • Allow private options for elective and experimental procedures, which will spur innovation in new technologies and procedures.
  • Eliminate corporate healthcare mandates – shift the burden to individual income and/or medicare taxes. This will dramatically reduce the burden on small companies, allowing them to hire full-time workers rather than gaming the system by hiring part-time workers to avoid the mandate. 
  • Require government to negotiate uniform drug costs with pharmaceutical firms
  • Require government to negotiate medical equipment costs with manufacturers
  • Increase availability of mental health and drug/alcohol rehabilitation workers and programs
  • Grant every individual the right to control their own body: no forced medical procedures of any kind (e.g. abortion, right to die, sterilization, genital mutilation, etc.)
  • Tax private, supplemental healthcare perquisites as income