Christmas is a holiday I enjoy through the celebration and joy of others. And I love it the time of giving and singing and being with family and thinking of people who are needy.

Which is why Im thinking of what the U.S. desperately needs, and what other countries have: a universalhealthcare plan. One that Obamacare might have been, but so far isnt: a system that provides appropriate medical care to everyone who needs it, without possibly causing their debt or bankruptcy of those who are ill.

The ideal system would lack all the paperwork, except for medical records. Yourhealthinformation, including past x-ray and MRI results, pathology reports and images, doctors notes, lab tests for Lyme disease and your blood type basically everything would be accessible to all doctors who have your consent to look at them, and to you, the patient.

There would be no bills, and no billers, and no insurance companies to choose from. That whole industry and the amount of dollars, computers, Cloud-space and workers could be put to other use. Yes, Im dreaming

Photo credit: Kevin Kay/Wikimedia Commons

A few days back the State of Vermont realized or decided that its single-payer system wasnt working. The gist of the reasons Vermont gave up on this potentially wonderful program (if only it were a health care tech start-up!) was economic. Part of the problem was that the Vermont plan posed a burden to local businesses, including a hefty pay-roll tax.

And thats similar to the problem were encountering nationally that businesses dont want to provide insurance for their employees. The reason is simple: its too expensive. So companies are opting out, or offering cheaper plans that may not sufficiently help people when theyre ill and may need a lot of care, including critical aid from specialists at hospitals that may not accept their insurance.

Im concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court is taking up a new threat to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the case of King vs. Burwell. The issue has to do with the legality of federal subsidies for states that have declined to set up ACA insurance exchanges.

Which leads me to the key question, about which we all might agree: Can and should health care be run as a business?

Originally posted here:

A Gift? Health Care Without The Business