The SinglePayer Plan; A letter to my elected representatives and the Congressional leadership on replace after repeal of the ACA

This is a letter I sent to my Congressional representation today, anticipating the replace and repeal of Obamacare. Since the GOP does not have a plan ready to go on repeal, I thought I’d offer mine, which I have been thinking about ever since Obamacare passed in 2010. I’m not sure why the GOP doesn’t have one of their own, but they are free to use mine.

My name is Gerard McLean. I reside at XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX, Englewood, Ohio, 45322 in Montgomery County. I am writing this proposal to my Ohio Representatives; Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Rob Portman and Rep. Mike Turner. I am providing courtesy copies to both the Senate and House leadership as listed below. As a courtesy, I am including a copy to Sen. Elizabeth Warren for her voluntary assessment.

A timely response from my elected representation is requested.

I’m concerned that the majority party of Congress, both in the Senate and the House of Representative, does not have a viable alternative to the Affordable Care Act — otherwise referred to colloquially as “Obamacare” or “ACA” — ready to enact once the bill to repeal the ACA has been signed into law by the incoming president.

Having put some considerable thought to health care in America, as well as having written a book — Dear Hillary, 100 Letters to Hillary Clinton on Health Care — on the matter, I have a basic plan for a replacement to the ACA.

I am very much in earnest as my library of correspondence and online posts will indicate. I encourage you to research me prior to your response and expect your response to be as earnest.

The solution to replacing the ACA is a Single Payer system:

• FedGov puts everyone into the same pool of 320 million people and funds the insurance much like a corporation funds its self-insurance plan, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
• Insurance companies become simply PROCESSORS for the fund. The patient doesn’t see a bill, no paperwork… the “insurance corporation” who used to be the payer, processes all that behind the scenes and bills the FedGov fund, pays the health care providers, etc.
• A tax of 2–3% on ALL INCOME. There should be no income caps like we have with social security. ALL personal income, regardless of source with the exception of those who are 65 and older for the next decade, after which all ages are covered under the same SinglePayer Plan. This will allow Medicare to evolve into a single coverage plan for everyone.
• Outlaw ALL self-insurance plans. They are woefully underfunded as it is.
• Companies push the benefits cost of health care into W2 income. For example, if a plan cost $12K per employee, the employee salary goes up $12K They will pay taxes on that income, but they have unlimited health care… no forms, no paperwork, etc. Self-insurers have ante up as well, no hiding behind false valuations.
• No more HR for health care. Companies simply cannot by law, offer health care, eye care, dental plans, etc to employees. Companies should be strongly encouraged or incentivized to repurpose the HR departments to sourcing and developing talent, like it always should have been.
• FedGov can hire former HR benefits people to be patient care advocates.
• Get rid of healthcare.gov and the ACA as it relates to consumer plans and individual mandate. They will no longer be needed.
• Cover everyone. If you have a heartbeat within the borders of The United States of America, you have health care.
• Medical/nursing school is free for those who wish to do the work and complete the training. All doctors, nurses, technicians are Federal Employees
• In exchange for voluntarily becoming a federal employee as a doctor, nurse or tech, over the next 2 years, the FedGov will pay for or discharge all your student loans. If you do not sign up on the plan after that, you are on your own.
• Insurance companies can sell supplemental plans for LIMITED private rooms in hospitals if they want… or for elective surgery, etc., if there is a market.

Clearly there are details to work through, but we are already paying for SinglePayer… at a profit bump of at least 20% to insurance corporations. We just need to eliminate that middleman, but not at the expense of throwing all those employees and people who have related jobs onto the street en masse. This transition plan accomplishes that. Stock prices for health insurance corps will plummet, but in the end, it is the Rx they need to survive.

Undoubtedly, this will create a lot of upheaval for health insurance corporations, but the CEOs of these organizations are paid handsomely for their ability to steer through the challenges of the market. The market demands change. For those who have the ability, this will be a challenge they will welcome. For those who can’t rise, their boards should fire them. Any middle manager can handle the status quo.

The current health care market can’t survive the status quo or even incremental change. The current trajectory is just delaying the inevitable nobody wants to admit.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to a response from each of you.

Regards,

Gerard McLean

PS: The book, Dear Hillary is available at Amazon (print and Kindle) and also filed in the Library of Congress. Sen. Brown has been sent a complimentary copy, which I’m sure he would be willing to share with everyone. You can each also call me and I’d be happy to send you your own copy, free of charge.

cc: Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Paul Ryan, Rep Nancy Pelosi