Universal, single Payer, Health Care Plan09

Use a National Sales tax to fund a single payer universal health care system.

GOVERNMENT FUNDED, NOT RUN

** YES WE CAN **
This is a plan that insures everyone, with everyone paying their fair share and returning to the doctor, the total responsibility for the health care of all Americans. The politicians, insurance companies, unions and lawyers all have their power curtailed in favor of the doctors. The employers are relieved of their responsibility to fund the major part of the cost and in place everyone pays for their own care when they spend their money. The need for many laws to fund this program is unnecessary, because the people will determine that when they spend their money. Fraud to gain HC money will be more difficult. Most of all, the prevention of diseases will be put in the doctors hands.
In the process, there will be more new businesses, and jobs, while present businesses will start rehiring the people they laid off. Money will have more buying power, because the cost of all goods and services will be less.
There will be a tremendous savings to the tax payer through less administration costs and interference with good medicine. Less government and fewer taxes will be needed. This could be as much as a 50% savings or over $1.2 Trillion to the tax payer. Where doctors need help delivering health care, they have the Free Market for help.
THE PLAN09
My definition of Universal Health Care is the process of preventing, treating and curing diseases. I also believe this system could include a specific amount of money designated for disease research. However, a Free Market approach may be a better approach than government. Accidents are not part of this system, but will continue to be covered with the present private insurance programs operating for profit. Accidents can be avoided through education. Workman’s Comp, liability, and any other situation that insurance companies find to be insurable and people are willing to buy, will be handled strictly through the free market with only registered insurance companies participating. The government will not be involved. All medical records and their costs will be part of this data base. This includes all accident medical records and costs. Eye, ear, and dental will all be listed as a disease and will be covered under this new plan. These, however, should have limits, since there are personal choices people make to up-grade the equipment or procedures at a cost they elect to pay. These additional costs will also be part of the medical data base. When these upgrades appear reasonable and affordable, they can be the accepted recommendation to the health care plan.
I propose a National Sales Tax on individuals when they spend their money in America. Money seems to be the common denominator for everyone, whether they have a job or not. Everyone spends money, only some more than others.
Most sales taxes are collected by the seller, who pays the tax over to the government which charges the tax. The economic burden of the tax usually falls on the purchaser, but in some circumstances may fall on the seller. Sales taxes are commonly charged on sales of goods, but many sales taxes are also charged on sales of services. In a highly idealized case, a sales tax would have a high compliance rate, be difficult to avoid, and be simple to calculate and simple to collect. (Wikapedia)
A National Sales Tax looks like a good fit for Health Care Reform. Put all the tax money into its own Health Care Fund, from which all universal health care costs are paid. The tax rate will be adjusted when more or less money is needed. The Federal Government will make no profit and will lose no money on health care. I see four separate rates funding Health Care. Everyone will pay the same sales tax except for those things that are necessary for life, such as food, which will have a lower rate. Purchases that seem to be excessive will have what we normally call Luxury Tax, and these will be taxed at a much higher rate, because the people purchasing them can afford them. There will also be a penalty tax on all purchases that will cause the health care costs to increase. As experience is gained, the rates can be modified to keep the system as fair as possible. Also, moving products and services in and out of rate groups may be advisable as experience is gained and each group becomes more defined. Nothing is set in stone.
The Committee of Budget and Management will be responsible for setting the tax rates based on facts they would normally have available to them. The CBM appears to be the Agency best qualified to be responsible for the funding system. They will also adjust the main rate based on needs.
Those that are presently collecting health care funds from the government and insurance companies will revise what they would bill them to be the true costs of what the coded description really costs, excluding all unnecessary charges that were charged to cover unnecessary things. They will send these new figures for each code they use to a central data base. The computer will work with these numbers and print out the average, high, low and the mean numbers. These will be the initial starting point to get going. A realistic and acceptable range of costs for each code will be published and all charges must fall within this range. The costs of Health Care should only go down. With constant monitoring in place the records will show costs and effectiveness of health care being given the people.


The practitioner doctor will now be the first line of defense for our Health Care system.

The records become readily available to those needing the information, similar to the system used by *Geisinger Health System in rural Pa. This system appears simple and easy to implement and able to do all the things I think this plan will require. Just having all the records in one place makes the most sense. Health care in America today has it’s records disconnected and scattered, with no control. Privacy is weak and reliability is poor. Bring accurate information together and use it to solve problems, is the only way to move ahead; garbage in, garbage out.
All the data will go into a super data base, and the information will be used by anyone looking to improve the health of the patient or to decrease the overall costs to the tax payer. Pharmaceutical companies, universities, research companies, insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and even the patients themselves will all use this data for their own reasons. With the records in a central location privacy is easier to control. Others wanting to use the information must go through a standard procedure before gaining access to the data. It is important that those using the data understand exactly what the limitations are and the degree of accuracy the data has. All record keeping procedures are started, changed or deleted from this one location. The computer can be programmed to flag discrepancy's. The statisticians will work with the numbers and let the appropriate people know if a problem exists. This data base could also be linked to other data bases throughout the world, making health care even more manageable. Health is important to us all and the sharing of this type information should be made as simple as possible.
(My Idea) The medical group making all the decisions will be formed by having 3 representatives elected by their piers to represent them; doctors, nurses, psychologists, dentists, ear doctors, eye doctors, chiropractors, etc. Each member will serve only 3 years, one replaced each year. The representatives will be paid the same and will only meet as required. Note: These three people will be able to communicate electronically, ideas amongst themselves and come up with solutions to real problems they are incurring today. This keeps the professionals in the field and prevents abuse of power. To start with, there should be 5 representatives with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, year terms. For the first 2 years, one member drops out. The third year one drops out and a new member comes in. From then on there will only be three members. Their initial responsibility will be to establish the most realistic charges for all the medical procedures. They already know what they are because they had to use them to make sure they were making a profit in spite of all the waste in the system, just satisfying unnecessary mandates dictated by the government and insurance companies. I feel things will smooth out within a couple years and everyone will know what everything costs, including the patient. If a procedure costs $5000 in California, but only $1000 in Chicago, something is wrong. The people working with the data base are the ones to investigate why and report back to the medical group. I don’t think there should be standard costs for specific things, but as we gain experience there should only be guidelines. People are all different and must be treated different. If a set charge is established, this will prevent the physician to always use their judgment for that patient. If not, there will never be improvements or learning from honest mistakes. Our goal is to always reduce the cost without creating an unacceptable situation. Nobody should get rich from health care, but these same people need to be fairly compensated for their efforts. They must enjoy what they have chosen as their life work.

A persons time is worth something and everyone has a value of $/hr. A piece of equipment or building or operating room has an hourly rate for its use, an operating room has an hourly rate. A building or office has an operating OH. All these are real numbers. This new plan uses these numbers and not the numbers our present system uses, which I feel does not make sense. How can I understand my bill if it always has an adjustment? I hope my plan brings common sense to this complex monster.

Benefits:
The health care costs will be paid a little at a time, while people are healthy and while they are spending their money. When they get sick and need medical care, their medical bills are already paid. The government will eliminate a lot of the entitlement programs we couldn't afford, because they are no longer needed. The taxes now used for health care can be eliminated. Medicare and Medicaid can also be eliminated along with its debt to the people. Everyone will now be covered equally.
All employers will be relieved of the responsibilities of paying for health insurance. This includes GM, FORD, CHRYSLER and every other employer of people, including our own government. Schools, cities, military will all have money now to do what they need to do without raising taxes. Small businesses with new ideas can grow and big businesses can start competing with the world market on a level playing field again. Since the tax payers were paying all the health care costs anyway, just eliminating all the waste, will as a whole, pay less. Those with the most money will pay more because they spend more. We all pay our fair share.
With the records always available to the patient, they will see exactly what is happening to them, including what it is costing us, the tax payer. Knowing the real costs, the people will be the watchdog for these charges, because people talk to each other and always compare notes. If there is a problem, it will be known and the facts are there. The patient knows what they are getting for the money they are paying. Geisingers’s System looks like this is possible.
If social security were to use the same process by eliminating the Trust Fund and start their own fund, the same as this health care system, their problems could also be solved. In fact, they should tax the wage earner from dollar one on up, as long as money is being earned. The tax rate could be reduced and adjusted every year to control costs. About $45 Trillion of the total national debt can be eliminated immediately which includes Medicare and Medicaid. Businesses can employ more people; reduce work hours to allow people more time to spend money. People can work closer to home, travel less and enjoy their work, instead of working just for the benefits large companies provide. Unions would have less demands for the employers to deal with.
All our children, veterans, homeless, American Indians, seniors and government employees will have the best health care available, FREE, when they need it.
Retirees will again enjoy retirement and start volunteering; giving back to the next generation all the experience they have learned to help them do the same when they retire. Because I have the interest and time today I am able to do what I just did.
It has been said many times that our Health Care System is broken and is beyond repair. The 2008 Presidential Candidates all said our health care system should be as good as what they have in Washington. Checking this out it appears the only difference is someone else pays for it. It was also said that the wealthy are getting wealthier and the poor are getting poorer. More middle class people are going onto the poor end of the economic scale than the wealthy end. It has also been said that our present system is so complex and full of waste that to try and repair it, is impossible.
This plan offers a whole new approach that uses these premises:
1. Everyone must be covered equally.
2. Everyone must pay their fair share.
3. The system must be affordable and sustainable forever.
4. The Medical Profession must be in charge of medical decisions.
5. The Federal Government must provide the funding through taxes from ALL THE PEOPLE.
6. The system must be simple, flexible and manageable.
7. The costs must be transparent.
8. This system must be able to insure that all changes in the health care system will result in reducing overall costs.
This looks like a WIN WIN PLAN.

WHY NOT?

Don Zwiers, Joliet, Illinois
Uhcplan09@sbcglobal.net

PS This idea has been sent to:
Senator Obama
President Obama
VP Biden
David Axelrod
Timothy Geithner
Rahm Emanuel
Melody Barnes
Peter Orszag
Senator Durbin
Senator Burris
Congresswoman Halvorson
Congressman Jackson Jr
“ Conrad
“ Coburn
“ Kennedy
“ Schumer
Secty Kathleen Sebelius
AARP
CNN
Chicago Tribune
Washington Post
USA Today
NY Times

Plus many more, with no reply, other than a standard form letter. I know that if you got this far into reading this I have a chance to get an honest reply. I need to know WHY NOT? Its our grandchildren we are talking about, not us.

Universal, single payer, health care plan09

UNIVERSAL, SINGLE PAYER, HEALTH CARE PLAN09

YES WE CAN

Our nations ECONOMIC DISASTER can be solved if our President has the opportunity to see this plan. The book “Change we can Believe in, Barack Obama’s plan to renew America’s Promise” published before his election, spelled out a lot of problems and the course his administration was going to follow. I support him nearly 100% because he thinks in broad terms and ways that make sense. This Health Care Plan09 will offer him another look at what can be. I don’t agree with him to keep the employer funding Universal Health Care. He needs to look in another direction. Not everybody has an employer. Please forward this to him as quickly as possible. It can save our Auto Industry and much more.

I have developed a plan for Universal Health Care, where everyone pays their fair share. In the process, health care will be sustainable forever, no debt. Also, since we won’t need extra health care money ever again from the government, all our health care debt to ourselves can be eliminated.

Because health care effects so much of what is happening to us today, solving this problem automatically solved most of our other big problems. 80% of our total debt of $57 Trillion dollars can be eliminated, employers won’t need to lay people off, the economy remains strong and the cost of government is greatly reduced, if the same principle is applied to other debt producers in our government, like Social Security. The American people, with their ingenuity can solve the energy problem without the federal government spending our tax dollars, but we need them involved to give us direction and make sure we are all working together.

Don Zwiers
uhcplan09@sbcglobal.net

I am looking for help to get this information to President Obama, highlighting a new approach to Health Care Reform. Although my main interest was Universal Health Care, I feel my plan addresses an even broader subject than just Health Care. Health Care Reform is definitely the key to my thinking, but it expands into all the major areas the American People are concerned about. Also Universal Health Care funded by the government, should be limited to only diseases. Accidents and liability insurance will continue to be handled with insurance companies, purchased privately. Insurance companies can do this and the Federal Government need not be bothered. Insurance companies will do a good job. A National Sales Tax principle to fund Health Care in America makes a lot of sense to me. Everybody needs health care, everybody spends money and therefore everybody would pay a sales tax to fund our Universal Health Care. I’m suggesting 4 rates, depending on where the money is spent. The lowest would be what is needed to survive, the second on what makes life easier and more enjoyable and the third would be for those things everyone would like if they had the money. The 4th rate would be a penalty for those things that would cause the health care costs to increase. This process levels the playing field without the necessity of laws, which require enforcement. The people make their own decisions when they spend their money. Also because this tax is the same for everybody, it is equal for everybody. If we adjust the tax to insure we always have the money we need to pay the bill, but no more than we need, the system becomes sustainable forever. This again makes sense to me. Remember we are ONLY talking about FEDERAL issues where everybody is equal. This is exactly the same principle we use to defend our country, everyone is eligible to serve in our military, regardless of our differences. All federal policy should affect all the people equally, regardless of our differences. (Should we be using our National Guard to fight our National Wars? No, this is a states decision.) Also with today’s technology, we can keep unlimited records in one place and tie them all together, allowing the government to use these actual facts to govern us. This is not happening today because most of the record systems now being kept are not connected. The Senate hearings in Washington, probing our economic mess, brought out the need for accurate information that we can all understand. One of the senators told the person testifying; “Don’t give me all your jargon of your industry, because I can’t understand what you are trying to say, tell me what it will cost in dollars. We and the American People can understand dollars.” Records kept by private entities do not want to share their information with the world because it prevents them from making a profit. The Federal Government does not need to make a profit, they just adjust the tax. The government, in order to stay solvent, must not lose money either. Health care should never cost more tomorrow than today unless it will improve the health of the patient or saves the system money in the long run. We should always be looking for ways to improve or prevent diseases.

Every time another person handles money in a transaction, the costs go up. We save money going “factory direct” every time. When the middlemen are eliminated we save money. Having the government tax everyone the same and sending all that money directly into the Health Care Fund, eliminates the chance of losing any of it. A record is automatically recorded for that transaction. When the U.S. Treasury pays a medical bill, there is also an accurate record of that transaction. All the money is accounted for. This is all electronic data, entered only once into the data base, using today’s technology. The only time the tax rate needs adjustment is when the account is out of balance. The rate can be changed and within a very short time, days or less, and the customer is paying a different tax. The customer may never notice the change but the system continues to function.

Today medical costs are inflated to cover the cost of administering 1000s of separate and different plans presented by the patients. In order for everyone handling money in our present health care system to make a profit, the tax payer is stuck with more costs. The government also has many mandates telling insurance companies, doctors and hospitals what they must do to cut costs. All these create more cost through a lot of waste, both in manpower and time. Therefore if the doctors and hospitals, throughout the country, redo their chart of codes, which I understand is about 6000 prepared by Medicare, eliminating all this waste that was needed to meet all the conditions necessary to get paid, there will be a range of what the true charges would be. Doctors and hospitals will know that the bill they send to the U.S. Treasury will be paid within 30 days.

All this data is entered into the same data base where the computer will be able to determine the average costs throughout the country, by section of country, by size of city, by number of patients per year, etc. The purpose of this exercise is to form a realistic base of information that another group can determine what the norm would be. We know a car made in Detroit will sell for a different price in different places in the country, depending on a lot of factors. Everyone has the opportunity to charge what they can. This is the FREE MARKET. A small town needs doctors just as much as a large city. A doctor or hospital can only provide the service where the need is. A small town, for instance may have healthier people than a large populated area because there is more fresh air, less pollution, fewer people to contract infectious diseases. If doctors are needed, the price a doctor can charge is determined by the doctor. If too many doctors come, there isn’t enough work to support them, some have to go. If we pay all doctors the same wage wherever they go or whether they work or not, the system will not function. It’s like paying people not working in the auto industry. It is unsustainable. People and health issues will determine what medical services are needed. All this data is there right now and we just have to capture it into one record system so we know whether we are improving the system or adding costs we didn’t realize. In either event, the patient must receive better care or the efficiency must be improved.

I also propose a group called “Medical Expert Agency”, comprised of 3 people from each element of the Medical Industry, such as doctors surgeons, dentists optometrists nurses, technicians, hospitals, medical clinics, etc. This group will look at all these costs and determine a fair range of charges they think would be fair across the country. Since all those now getting paid have this master chart prepared by Medicare and this is already in one record, all the new charges will be put into the new chart. The experts in their field will only be looking at the data they are familiar with and their opinion will have uncontested value to get started. Since we are eliminating waste, no charge will be more than what is paid today. I am sure this start of Universal Health Care will produce only lower costs as the system gains experience. This range will be the starting point for the system. As experience is gained, these ranges can be tightened or new codes can be identified, adding to the list. Costs will continue to decrease for several years, until experience is gained from what is happening.

Since everyone is working with the same charts, the system should be ready to go within a couple months. In the end, a procedure may cost $1000 in Tuscola, IL, while the same procedure may cost $2,000 in Chicago. The difference may be the cost of living or such that justifies the charge. Also, two procedures could be done by the same doctor in the same hospital on the same day and have different charges, because these are two different people and the doctor has to treat them differently. Only the doctor knows this. We need to trust the professionals to do their jobs. However, with the super data base, this doctor can be compared with other doctors to see how close they are in charges. Only when something doesn’t look right, would there be time spent to evaluate the differences. Everything has to be kept in perspective. The records are the facts and the facts do not lie. If everyone does everything exactly the same, there will never be mistakes and there will never be any improvements. Doctors need to do what they do. The Medical Experts only serve a limited time and get paid the same. They only meet when needed. This keeps them in the field doing the work they were trained to do. My plan spells out these thoughts in more detail.

Let’s look at how this principle affects each of our major policies.
With the Universal Health Care Plan I discussed; everybody has the same health care and everybody pays according to their ability to spend money. If we just tax to fund our needs, the system is sustainable forever, and we can eliminate our entire health care debt. The things to tax can be adjusted at anytime to meet the needs of the times. The principle remains the same and no laws are required. We can learn from mistakes and make the corrections to improve the fairness. I assume the Office of Budget and Management could monitor these tax rates as needed. They will be tweaking what group each item fall into as needed, keeping fairness to everybody in mind.

If everyone has the same care and already paid for, everyone will feel the same about their care, regardless of their differences. Poor, rich, black, Hispanic, Jew, Christian, young, old will all be treated by a doctor without regard to differences. This is a big step towards equality.

Our economic situation of people losing their jobs because of the financial problems can be helped by this same principle. Because they are still healthy, they are still paying into the system, rather than taking tax money even though they are not sick. If everyone is paying their own health care, employers are relieved of this overhead and keep their employees or hire more people, which of course would help the jobs market. Also, the entire employer base will be helped and not just one or two industries, like the auto or banking. The benefits from spending tax payer’s money are fairer. The potential for people with new ideas will start new businesses, creating more wealth and jobs to pay off our foreign debt. Our youth can be used in the summertime as part time employees, doing misc. house keeping and other nonessential jobs. It’s better to put the youth working on nonessential projects than to have them idle and just getting into trouble. Unions need to be thinking of the new workers as gaining good experience, so they can be good union employees when they grow up. Unions won’t need their dues but they can assume the responsibility to work with the employer to insure they will be safe. These jobs could be minimum wage and 4 hours, just to employ the youth during the summer break and still leave time for play and learn other things that will help them develop into better citizens. Maybe volunteering for some worthy cause. College youths can be employed as understudies to gain experience in the work industry. Being part time employees, they also should be immune from union dues. Young people need the opportunity to get good experience and work ethics. This all makes sense to me. Maybe the youth gang problems will change to gangs competing for volunteer honors and scholarships presented by various service groups in their communities.

Our education system would automatically have more money for education because the health care benefits will be eliminated. This savings can be used to improve the education system.

The Veterans will be taken care of just like everyone else. The medical care they receive will be exactly what everyone else gets in America. The doctors will determine the care they need, and they will get it.

Insurance companies can refocus on insuring insurable things that have a value both the insurer and insured agree. Diseases are not predictable and a human life has no set value that someone other than the person himself can establish. Human life is priceless to each person. Insurance companies will become smaller and a lot of unnecessary administrative costs will be eliminated. Insurance companies won’t be saddled with a commodity they aren’t able to insure, which is evident from the past 60 years. They will still be in the business of accident and liability insurance. Setting a broken leg is pretty much standard. An infection is not and would be considered a disease. They will now be in competition with each other and the government will not be in the business of using tax payer’s money to take care of those without insurance. When you license an automobile you must have insurance and it will cover injuries from an accident. When someone buys a gun, they must buy a license and that license assures they have insurance in case that gun causes an injury. The home owner must purchase insurance that protects the owner from injuries caused by their neglect. Employers have insurance in case someone is injured on the job. If two people get into a fight and cause injury, they are responsible for their own medical bill. Maybe insurance companies will have a way to insure people in those cases. The main focus is the Universal care is only about diseases and the insurance companies are all about accidents.

Doctors and hospitals will be in competition with each other for patients. A good doctor will have more than enough patients, while another may not be as busy. One of the duties of a doctor that nobody talks about and just goes unnoticed is their consultation with the patient. When a doctor has time and the patient’s records are in front of him, he is able to talk and guide the patient toward a healthier life. I think this is what will tell the difference between a good doctor and a so-so doctor. Doctors will go to where the patients are instead of where the money is. People now living in poor areas will improve their health and be in a better position to compete for better jobs. There will be more competition for jobs, housing, businesses and products. I think this is good for everybody. If a doctor knows their efforts will be fairly rewarded, no matter where they work, they will gravitate to where the work is. Doctors and hospitals will invoice their services directly through the national records base where all data required for payment is monitored. If all the necessary forms are completed properly, the invoice is forwarded to the U.S. Treasury for payment. This will all be done electronically. Those sending the invoices in will not have access to what others pay, which insures they only charge what they need to make their profit. The group monitoring the records will be able to have the computer identify unusual situations and then take action. When there are too many doctors, the schools will slow down or doctors will start traveling to other parts of the world where they are needed. Hospitals will work the same way. Some hospitals will specialize in a particular disease and will draw people from a larger area. Smaller medical centers will keep expanding in areas close to where patients are, because people will usually go to the closest facility for the care, especially if there medical records are always with them. These small medical facilities will start cropping up in poorer neighborhoods because that is where the patients are. Today they are being built where the money is. Two heart hospitals will never be built next to each other because it doesn’t make business sense. This sure seems to be the way we want the FREE MARKET to work.

The family doctor has the time to consult with the patient about eating and lifestyle suggestions for a healthy life. They have the medical history of the patient, so they know what has been happening, health wise, in their life. The Family Doctor can become part of the family, if the patient allows it to happen. When a woman becomes pregnant, she goes to the doctor for care. If a woman gets pregnant again and it is apparent that she is irresponsible because she isn’t married and can’t take care of her first child, a decision can be made to sterilize her, preventing more pregnancies. This sterilization should be reversible so if later in life she becomes more responsible and wants a real family, she can still bear a child. This is a social issue, but the medical people must be involved.

Medical people are always making medical decisions, because that is their business. When they see certain foods are contributing to the rise of health costs, they have the tools to affect change. Add that food to the penalty tax until it is changed to a healthier product. The Federal Communications agency should regulate how unhealthy foods or products are advertised. We need to protect our children.

How many times have we heard in our society how a mistake incubated another whole industry, like 3M Post-it’, or the material that has no nutritional value but turned out to be a coating on the pills we consume every day by the millions. If mistakes are punished, potential progress in new ideas and technology are hindered. We need to study the mistakes and learn from them, not punish someone.

Malpractice Insurance is designed to make lawyers a lot of money because no one making the decisions for awards has any real knowledge about medicine. Lawyers sure don’t, the judge doesn’t, opposing expert witnesses can’t agree and the jury, saying guilty or not guilty, are the least qualified to make that decision. That sure doesn’t make sense to me. I think the lawyers and Liability Insurance Companies have a real thing going where they all make a lot of money because of ignorance. If the record system for health care are all in one place and interconnected, the facts pointing to a cause for liability will be very clear. Putting a limit of $250,000 only makes sure they get at least this much. I’m not a lawyer but when I tried to talk to a lawyer about my health care idea and how it would affect their industry, they quoted me a price/hour. Needless to say, I said thanks but no thanks and hung up.

Lobbyists just don’t add anything to the health care system, except cause confusion. It seems they are only talking money and profits. I really can’t say much more. They don’t seem to know medicine. Lobbyists may have there place, but not in medicine.

Politicians can focus on other important issues that require legislation to solve. They will not need to work as hard on health care except make sure the cost is going down and not up. Energy, immigration and our national debt are issues that need a lot of attention now. Maybe they can start helping the people that elect them have a better and safer life. Maybe they will look at lobbyists as a source of collected information and not a source of campaign funds. Maybe people would be more willing to contribute to their funds voluntarily and we can eliminate the thought that $16 million is needed for a senator and $3 million is needed to run for governor. Let’s take the price tag off politics and make service to the people the norm.
Social Security problems, today also needs reform. The purpose of SS was to provide help for people when they get old and are not able to do the work they were doing to make a living. 100 years ago, families lived mostly on the farm or stayed in the same community where they were born. The family was the caretaker for the old or sick. Today families are spread all over the world. SS was developed to replace the family responsibility. The government taxes the workers while they are working and gives the retirees a sustainable income when they are too old to do their job. The problem we have now, as I see it is: 1. not everyone works for an employer. The poor pay more of their available income into the system than the wealthy because it only taxes the first $100,000. 2. SS money goes into a Trust Fund that the government for the past 60 years borrowed the excess money to spend on what they wanted instead of investing it into something that protected the money. The reason for the fund was they needed money to cover the people retiring, that didn’t pay into the system for a lifetime. Once the SS system matured, IT should have been regulated to just fill the needs. 3. The government established their own retirement system, separate from the rest of the Nations employers and funded it thru our regular tax system. WHY? This does not make sense and seems to be a selfish situation. If the government program were to just be part of the SS program, tax 100% of the earnings, starting with the first dollar and make it illegal to work for cash, the system can provide the funds for everyone when they get old. The need for many government workers would decrease, saving taxpayers money. The retirement amount paid should be the same for everyone, regardless what they paid in. The amount should be enough to survive, but not extravagant. If they didn’t make much money during your life, they really don’t need much after they retire. The concept of saving becomes an individual right and the savings is what guarantees the good life in retirement, traveling and vacations. The SS tax, again, is adjusted to pay all the SS bills; the government makes no profit and loses no money. This is sustainable forever. With the records in one place, the system can adjust to the change in times, strictly by adjusting what the program pays out and is equal for everybody. Our entire SS debt can be eliminated because we will never need that money. Pay today’s bills with today’s dollars. Inflation is a non factor. The question here is; how much should SS pay a retiree or a person that can’t work anymore? This has to really be evaluated and a system to keep it current must be worked out.
All workers should pay for their own retirement fund from their earnings. These funds should be owned by the worker and they take it with them where ever they go. The worker can also elect to invest their savings in any way they want, bank, 401-K, stocks, and real estate or even invest in their employer’s stock option plan. It would be their freedom to do what they want. The Government or employer should not be involved, other than offering the service of payroll deduction at no charge. SS only becomes a minimum benefit for everyone, equally. Enough for clean housing, necessary clothes and healthy food (Survival). Travel, entertainment, etc would not be included.

CONCLUSION:
I feel our Nation will see an opportunity to save $100s of Billion every year on Health Care and eliminate $35 to $45 Trillion from our national debt. (This would be about $13 Million/ person.) Everyone will have health care when they need it because they all paid for it ahead of time. They choose their own doctors and it’s there, wherever they go in the United States of America. Just like what President Obama is asking for. Everyone will have the same care. What a wonderful feeling. We will know when we retire, we can enjoy the years left without worrying about how to pay those medical bills. Getting old and retiring will really be something to look forward to.

I took another approach which was to define what we all want and how to get it, without hurting some one else in the process. Yes jobs will be lost and jobs will be created. If we eliminate more jobs than we create, there is a big savings. If we reduce wasted or misdirected effort and streamline procedures, making the system more efficient and effective, the savings will be beneficial to everyone with less cost. I foresee a lot of new industries being created to use all the people now not working. With this plan there are only winners. All this savings can be converted to other needs. Everyone at the forum spoke of their concerns and very few addressed; how do we pay for it? When this funding process became evident to me, I saw where it has a huge benefit to our political way of thinking. More money is eliminated from the problem. Better service and accountability became a much simpler issue. This looks clean and sustainable. Tax money coming in daily to pay bills daily without the problems of inflation just made sense.

Another example, the past 18 month’s revenue from the tax on gasoline stayed constant. At $1.50 a gal the fed government collected 18 cents/gal. This is 12% of the sale. When the gas rose to $4.50/gal the government could have collected almost 52 cents/gal or three times as much. People were looking for a gas tax holiday to save $.18/ gal., when the government was losing for months, three times that amount. If the government changed the 18 cents tax/gal to 12% sales tax 18 months ago, they would have had three times the money to repair roads and bridges. If the speculators had to share more of their profits from a high gas price with the government’ they may have done things differently. The increase in sales tax would never have come up, because it was rising with the price of gas and no one missed the few pennies they were paying.

The government spends months figuring out how to get more money when all they have to do is raise a tax that is tied to what they want to do. This seems simple. If it’s not a good idea the people will let them know. Chicago raised the sales tax in the greater Chicago area to fund Mass Transit. Today they want to use this money for hospitals. It doesn’t add up. Raise the tax that funds the hospitals. That’s how taxes work. The government must use taxes for what its intended and not rob Peter to pay Paul. The people will let the politicians know if they are spending the money right. With this system the Pork spending will become a thing of the past. That SS money will no longer be there to waste. The tax payer will feel more in control and the money will be there when they need it.

The statement was made at the forum that we should keep the parts of our present health care that are working and build from there. From what I have read from the Forum transcripts and what others are saying, there is nothing about the present system that is working. It costs too much and we can’t pay for it. Medicare and Medicaid are both going further into debt with no end insight, 45 million people are without care and those with health care are fast losing what they had and paying more. Our medical people are discouraged and aren’t getting paid. They have to care for more patients, giving them less of their time and their own attitudes are deteriorating fast, and making for a bad situation.

When we talk about the American people, we are talking about everybody. We also talk about everybody when we talk about a federal retirement program. If the Federal Government and the people decide that they should take care of retirees, then we do it together. If not, we fend for ourselves. I’m for taking care of everybody equally and those that save more money just have more to spend when they no longer have that job. I think our national security, safety and welfare are things we need to do together and we all need to pay our fair share. If we think the highways and railroads are necessary for our national security, the government must run it for that reason, otherwise let the FREE MARKET handle it with minimum regulations. If the Railroads, Interstates and US Highways are needed for our National Defense, then the Federal Government must regulate them for that reason alone and the American people must pay for what it takes with a tax of some sort. Also, when the government spends money on National Security, they need to buy only from Americans because we don’t know who our enemies will be tomorrow. Those same manufacturers must never sell our National Defense materials to anyone else for that same reason. Today these people are selling guns, tanks, airplanes, etc, all over the world and making money. This should never happen. If you sell to the government for national security, then you can not sell the same stuff to anyone else. This sure makes sense to me.

This plan needs to be debated in the Health Care Reform Forum. I am sure there will be a lot of disagreement here because most people I try to talk to, refuse to discuss what I wrote. I think it’s a start to get off the fence and make some decisions.

YES WE CAN, but we have to try something different if we are going to make something happen. These are not original ideas. They all came from, what other people have been saying over the years. Our U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence set the stage for a lot of my thinking. We have strayed away from those principles and are now in trouble. Greed has gotten in the way of our original values. I just put all this information together and this plan appeared. It makes a lot of sense to me and I truly believe President Obama will change a lot of his thinking on Universal Health Care. Everybody wants different things and we just have to figure out how we can do it.

Is this a good idea? Can it be better? Do we have to keep looking for another way? I hope this generates some new thinking and we don’t try to keep something that just doesn’t work. I haven’t heard anyone say they like what we have.

Don Zwiers

The main argument I have heard is Universal Health Care is Socialism.
A definition of SOCIALISM: political and economic theory or system of social organization based on collective or state ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

Our Constitution mentions equity for the people in many ways but never mentions socialism, capitalism, democracy or any other form of government. Thomas Jefferson said, “Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories. “ “A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.”



Read the first paragraph of the U. S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. What I am proposing here is what our forefathers are asking of us to do.

I AGREE. OUR GOVERNMENTS SHOULD NEVER OWN ANYTHING. Everything belongs to its people. The government must provide the organization to insure we have the protection we need from those that might harm us, foreign countries, and people with bad intentions among us and even from ourselves. We elect our politicians to run our government for us, according to our constitution and the laws we create, within its framework. This government also promotes for our general welfare and secures the blessing of liberty to ourselves and the generations that follow us.

Today, trying to promote our general welfare, we have created a debt our children will never be able to pay. Our politicians are not listening to the people but they try to please the lobbyists, representing many groups with the intention for these groups to get more than their fair share. This generation has put us in a position that if we do not correct our mistakes, we will no longer be this great nation of “the land of the free.” We will have sold it to the highest bidder so those with the most money can have their way.

YES WE CAN
I feel this is a “WIN-WIN” PLAN

Universal Health Care by Don Z

A Universal,Single Payer, Health Care Plan that works for everyone

Our health care in the United States is BROKEN and needs repair NOW.

Yes We Can!

This is a health care plan that needs your input. Yes it is different, but it provides everything we are talking about and more. It insures everyone, everyone pays their fair share, it saves money, simple, easy to administer, sustainable forever, inflation proof, reduces government involvement, allows the medical people do what they are trained to do, eliminates insurance companies and politicians and their lobbyists, provides a solution to control malpractice law suit, and saves millions of jobs. While doing all this, it creates the environment to create millions of new meaningful jobs.

This plan also allows the government to spend our tax money more efficiently, because the tax money is not paying for just government employee’s healthcare but everyone’s health care. Everyone pays their own when they spend their money. The wealthy spend more. Everyone gets the same health care, which will be the best in the world

This plan, Universal, Single Payer, Health Care, has a lot of merit. This Plan just needs to be talked about.

This is what people are saying about our present health care system but haven't really presented a solution that will solve all the problems without adding to the already "out of control" cost:

1. Our health care in the US is the most expensive in the world and our government can't pay their part.

2. Health care costs are not being shared fairly. Too many citizens aren't paying enough. The government is paying too much.

3. Dental, vision, and hearing are usually not covered by insurance, but yet if not treated, will result in higher costs later. These are the parts of the body that go bad with age and people don’t have the money it takes to pay for the necessary insurance .

4. There are 45 million people still without health care. Everybody should have health care in America.

5. Insurance companies and politicians are making critical health care decisions instead of doctors.

6. Prescription drug prices keep going up faster than inflation. People just can't afford them.

7. The employer is saddled with no control over rising health care costs. They can't afford to continue doing what they have in the past.

8. Our valuable volunteer network in America spends so much time and money providing health care to the poor, that other needs are being neglected, such as education, food and housing.

9. Many studies have been pointing out the waste in health care, such as hospitals administrating multiple insurance plans, each requiring special conditions.

10. Lobbyists are influencing our politicians for the benefit of better profits for their clients at the expense of our health care industry.

11. Insurance companies cherry pick the most profitable groups to insure(which is how they are able to compete with each other) leaving a lot of groups without insurance. The government, in order to help these people, created ways to give them the insurance they need (Medicaid and Medicare) but without a way to fund them. The results are; not everyone is insured and the cost to the tax payer is rising faster than inflation and we can't afford to keep going down this road of self destruction.

12. Malpractice insurance is out of control and the doctors and patients are the ones getting hurt.

13. Our veterans are not getting the care they deserve.

To correct all these problems, a complete overhaul of HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA will be required. It won’t be easy and it won’t come from one person or group. It will only happen when everyone playing a major part in the system comes together and does what is right. Our new system has to be a WIN-WIN situation, where no one is a loser. Our new President can solve this problem, but is still following the old ways. You can't mandate insurance and employers to do things without adding a lot more cost. What I have outlined provides new thinking for the solution to all these problems. The mechanics to make it happen are already there. I see this plan happening very quickly. A sales tax, as I will described, can be put in place within weeks. (Chicago did it last year to solve the Mass Transit problem). Computerized medical records are already being used by hospitals, they just need to be expanded to include realistic controls on medical costs. The people responsible for the costs need to know what the costs are. The technology is there. People losing jobs over this switch are people doing unnecessary work in the present health care system. It is these people that will fill the needs in more productive industries. This could even be in the new health care system. The U.S. Treasury will pay all the bills for health care for it's citizens but will also have the necessary information to make sure it doesn't pay for waste, (reasonable costs are OK but GREED FOR MONEY is not). The system will have to be more transparent. That is, everyone pays their fair share and no one takes more than they earn. This is a health care plan that needs your input. Yes it is different, but it provides everything we are talking about and more. This plan also allows the government to spend our tax money more efficiently, because the tax money is not paying for just government employee’s healthcare but everyone’s health care. Everyone pays their own when they spend their money. The wealthy spend more. Everyone gets the same health care, which will be the best in the world

The Health Care System will provide all the medical expenses at the time it is used. This includes dental, eye, drugs, doctor and hospital costs, and any other things the doctors decide is needed and economically possible.

The government (300 million people) is the major player in the system and will represent us all as individuals; rich, poor, men, women, young, old, everyone equally. We elect politicians to run the government and we pay them to do this. Our politicians should not be in the business of 'Pay to play" and our government should definitely not make a profit at any time. If they need more money, they have the authority to tax us. If the legislators are transparent in making their decisions, the public will not object. When they spend more than they have, they must be accountable and correct the situation. One way is to INCREASE TAXES, BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST NOT GO IN DEBT, unless there is no other way for a short period of time. The Federal Government represents all of us equally. Without a strong Federal Government we are all weak together. When we are together with what we do, we are strong.

My proposal to fix all of these wrongs is huge and I find no one, so far, willing to take on this challenge. Doctors can’t get the politicians on board, insurance and drug companies use lobbyist to protect them from losing money, employers don’t want to pay more than they can afford, and our citizens are stuck with a system that doesn't take care of them when they really need the care. Our government is continually bailing out the system and going further into debt. What we have is a monster, with no solution. It is unsustainable.

MY PLAN

Eliminate the health care insurance companies and let them handle accidents and liability insurance for individuals and businesses. eliminate politicians making health care decisions because they are not knowledgeablenon what is needed. This automatically eliminates the lobbyists. This just leaves the medical people to make the decisians to run the health care industry. They are the most qualified and trustworthy! The question then is; How do we fund the system? Create a National Sales Tax, which is the fairest, easiest to administer and already in use in most all the states. However a simple sales tax won’t work because the poor pay more of their available income than the rich. I recommend a graduated rate based on a need to buy. This leaves a health care system, run by the medical field and congress controlling the cost.

Congress controls funding by; changing the sales tax when they have too much money or not enough. Everyone will pay for health care when they spend money. When some one needs health care, it is already paid for.

(The only unknown health care factor we now face is "when will I need a doctor and how much will it cost?"). Under this Plan, the U.S. Treasury pays the bill out of a health care fund, where all the National Sales Tax collected is deposited. Everyone is treated as equal.

The politicians can now spend their time on more serious problems. The Insurance Industry can rejoin the FREE MARKET SYSTEM and generate their profits without the help of government. My plan simulates the original Blue Cross Blue Shield plan in the 1930’s when the doctors and hospitals got paid through a system where the workers contributed a small amount to the system each week from their pay check. They never missed the money. The employer just deducted it and sent the check to the insurance company. Since they were non-profit, everyone benefited and no one made an excessive profit on someone being sick. I like this idea. Pay when you don't need it but get the care when you really need it. Pay when you spend your money. Everybody spends money. This is an insurance that spreads the risk evenly and pays for those less fortunate. Our health is not for sale.

A National Board of Medical Experts (NBME) will be assembled to administer the Universal Health Care System in America. It will evaluate the costing system now used by Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies, and develop the payment system needed. (The code of charges.) This board will be comprised of representatives from each field of the health system and all be paid the same amount for their service. Three representatives from each field will share one vote with the board. (The reason for one vote shared is to eliminate the lobbying of a person. Three people makes it just more fair). Term limits are limited to 3 years and no one serves more than one term. This keeps all medical people actively committed to their field. Those on the board will be aware of most of the problems and can take action on solving them. The saving in administrative costs alone has been estimated by several studies to be quite large. The ultimate goal of the NBME will be; control what Medical Professionals will charge the system, make all changes necessary to make sure everyone is being treated fair. This should all be done in the open. The ultimate goal is to provide the best health care possible within a framework of what the people are willing to pay.

A National Record and Statistic Agency (NRSA) is formed to centralize ALL records and monitor the system. This Agency operates independent of the National Board of Medical Experts and Congress. Their responsibility is; develop and administer the record keeping system that will provide Congress and NBME with accurate information and statistical charts they need to administer and pay for the Universal Health Care System in America.

All invoices are sent through the NRSA to insure all requested information is there. They do not check for accuracy at this time, just that all information requested is there. When congress or the NBME see unusual trends, they investigate, WHY, and report back. When invoices are sent to the Treasury for payment, they will pay it within a 30 day period. Invoices that are incomplete or have questionable information will be returned to the sender and will result in delayed payment. The NRSA will also have field people to check for irregularities and will be constantly looking at why things are changing and report back to either congress or the NBME to verify why. Changes are then made by congress or NBME to improve the system.

Groups that are now involved in research or looking for ways to improve the system will remain intact and will not be funded thru the health care system. They are usually non-profit organizations and are funded through contributions.

The National Sales Tax is based on money spent. The tax money is deposited in a special fund with the US Treasury and used only to pay for our health care. Money is constantly coming in while health care bills are also constantly being paid. This means today's health care costs are spent with today’s dollars. Inflation is a non-issue. An example of the type information Congress would get on a monthly basis would be; a chart showing how much money is collected and a breakdown by state showing how much was paid. Also a chart showing the breakdown of how much money was paid out to each health program, general medical cost. preventative costs, surgeries, chiropractors. eye, ear, nose, psychiatric care, etc. Also show those same costs by states. These numbers won't mean much at first, but after a few years a pattern will be seen and they can be analysed to see why they are erratic, increasing or decreasing. Congress will become familiar with these charts and will ask why. The analysts will determine why, recommend changes. The effect of the change will be followed to determine if it is working. More changes, or a different approach, may be needed to fine tune the problem. These are all ways congress will be able to operate more efficiently. The technology has been around for years, and is already being applied in many industries today.

Everybody pays for their insurance according to how they spend their own personal money. It should be illegal to buy personal things with other peoples money. (Company expense and perks, if it is to be used for personal use, it must have a tax. If it is for company use, it becomes a company expense.) If we just use a sales tax of one fixed rate, it would be disproportionately greater on the income of the poor than the rich. In order to correct this, charge a higher rate for things the richer persons buy. This equalizes the tax based on how much you spend for unnecessary purchases. I suggest 4 levels at this time.

A. Tax things needed to live, at one low rate. Also used or reconditioned items could be included here to promote recycling items that are still usable. There are no exceptions, everything has a tax and will fit in one of these groups.

B. Tax a little more for things that make life better. Those that can afford it will have a better life and will be an encouragement for others to have more money through a better job or more education or better money management.

C. If we collect even more tax for extravagant things, those with the most money will help the poor people get their health care. This tax must not be too excessive since some people may reach that level of income and want to be able to afford those things too. All these taxes go to pay for health care. All the tax now collected, supporting health care, can be discontinued.

D. The last level would be for our medical people to determine those purchases that are causing health care costs to rise, such as unhealthy food, smoking and drinking. This tax could be a tax added on to one of the other three, because it can be removed if the product is made safer to the consumer. If the consumer wants this product bad enough than it’s their money and they can do what they want.
This tax revenue is paid the same as now except it all goes directly to the U.S. Treasury to be put in a special health care fund where only health care costs are paid. The records will show where the money comes from, without any middlemen involved. The candy store sends it’s check, directly to the Treasury. However, this check goes to the NRSA (National Records and Statistics Agency), prior to the Treasury to be deposited. The date, name, address, business ID# and amount will be entered into the Universal Health Care Data Bank as a permanent record. Now the Treasury knows where all the money came from. They know what city, state, Type business and the exact amount to assist any study needed to evaluate any situation. This data bank will also have other data, all interrelated for future studies. The NRSA will have simple guidelines on who has access to this information and what the procedure would be. They would have total control for privacy information. Walgreen’s headquarters for example may have the potential of seeing what the sales are in their different stores around the country, just to check their own records or use it for other business uses.

Anyone caught cheating will have to pay the penalty for Federal Tax Evasion. I would hope that penalty would be very steep. Criminals caught not collecting the sales tax or income tax has an automatic Tax Evasion penalty. (Example; Illegal drug dealers, selling drugs without collecting the sales tax.) This sales tax money is put into its own fund and the size of the fund can be regulated as needed, simply by increasing or decreasing the tax rate. This makes the system sustainable for future generations. The “A” tax and “C” tax can be the more stable taxes while the “B” taxes can be the regulator. Also, where a product fits into a rate can be easily adjusted when it appears to be out of line. There is a lot of simple adjustments available to bring everything into balance. I would think the ‘B’ tax could be the final regulator (raise this tax when more money is needed and lower it when less money is needed) as we gain experience. Only congress should have the power to change the percentage, based on facts presented to them by the statisticians as justification.

NOTE: I have a question whether a sales tax would apply to investments, which is spending money to make more money. I don't think a health care tax should apply here.

These are the immediate benefits to this plan:

Employers will keep the money they now earn, not having to fund health care. The company uses this extra money where they determine it will help the company most. Eliminate OT and hire more people; reduce the work load of workers and hire additional people; lower the cost of their products; update equipment; increase marketing and research budgets and spend more on new products, are all decisions they will make to affect how competitive they will be in the future. Workers, who kept their jobs only because the benefits were good, can now look for a job closer to home and do something that really turns them on. Health care is no longer an issue. Also, if people can work closer to home, less cars on the road resulting in less energy consumed and less maintenance on roads.

People now volunteering in health care can be replaced with trained workers, increasing better paying jobs. This allows those volunteers to work in other areas of need, such as education, food pantry, or housing, which also affects the poor.

Our education system, now recieveing money from taxes, wont have to pay the health care costs for employees and the retirees. Without changing the taxes, education will already have some of the money they need to improve education.

Non profit organizations, such as Churches, Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc can spend more money on their mission, helping others, rather than providing paid staff health insurance.

The Government will have more money for their missions. Park districts, public works, and a host of other government agencies will automatically have more money to do their work. Also the money paid for contract labor will be less, because those businesses won't have the health care burden.

Medicare and Medicaid can be eliminated, along with its debt.

Small businesses can hire more help.

Mothers or fathers won’t both have to work just to provide health care insurance. They can do what they want. One of them may volunteer in the schools, churches, helping the pooror the elderly.

People losing their jobs will still have their health care. They can get a lower paying job, temporarily, to buy food, wear clothes longer, drive the car less, move in with someone else, until a better job can be found. These are options they have control over. They still need to spend money to live and that alone is paying for their health care.

Employers can hire teenagers during the summer so they can gain work experience and earn money to spend, helping to pay for their own health insurance when they get sick. Unions should not require these teens to join a union, rather they should use this opportunity to work with the employee to insure these kids get good, high quality and safe experience during the summer so they will be better workers later.

Unions can concentrate on working conditions and maintaining fair wages whithout having to fight over who pays for the health insurance. They also need to be concerned that the employer can survive hard times. Unions must be a partner to the manufacturer and not an enemy. They need to represent the workers where they need help and make sure the employer treats the workers as part of the team.

Hospitals and medical centers will operate on the FREE MARKET SYSTEM. The government will know exactly what the hospital costs are and make sure the charges are fair. The data they will be working with will be the most accurate possible, allowing congress to make good sound decisions about what is happening. This is a big problem now, where the costs are buried in insurance and hospital private agreements. The tax payer is paying the bill, and this will change, saving many dollars. Medical charges will have their overhead costs included in the standard charges. Hospitals and Medical centers will receive part of those fees to cover their operating costs. The hospitals and medical centers will have to operate efficiently and maintain a % of full capacity in order to insure a reasonable profit. Doctors not producing efficiently or operating with bad practices will not be desirable. Some doctors that are specialists will work for several hospitals to insure a reasonable work load. Populated areas may also be just as competitive as less populated areas. Specialized medical facilities could be less apt to have general practice but be more technically equiped to handle their job and could be fed from facilities around the country. It must also be noted that some medical charges are inflated for various reason and this should be taken into consideration when the rates are restablished by the NBME. The NBME will be in the position to make these decisions most fairly and openly.

The poor will have another benefit for living in the US without being singled out as someone less than everyone else. They will have the same health care as everyone else. This may help them GROW into a better citizen, because they know they are now participating in a program the same as every other person in America.

Our Indian Affairs Agency can concentrate on other issues, other than health care. We need to be looking for ways for them to be more inclusive to our way of life, without depriving them of there heritage. We all enjoy the diverse backgrounds of our ancestors. Today we are all Americans together. Indians should not be singled out and given unfair advantages or disadvantages over other Americans. I think its time for a real treaty.

Our veterans will have the best health care possible when they come home. We will all be paying our fair share and if they need special help, we will all pay the bill. This is another cost of war we must all bear equally. The homeless on the streets have a lot of our veterans. This will give them the real help they need. We owe it to them. Help them be part of the American dream again.

The Federal Government can gain some needed respect from its people. Many people I have talked to, don’t like big government and they don’t want the government telling them how to live. They say Universal Health Care is leaning towards Socialism. My answer is that sometimes the federal government is the only answer to some problems. Our present National Defense is big government without controls. We, as a Nation, are not paying for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are now in big trouble. Why are we not paying this war in Iraq, instead of borrowing from someone else? Why are we cutting back on all our services for a better life because we can’t manage our budget? Why is our government going into debt paying for health care for those who can’t afford it or don’t want to buy insurance? Why is big government spending our SS money with no intent to pay it back? These are all principles we need to change. Our National defense should never be farmed out to someone else since we never know who our next enemy will be. The United Nations should be the place to work with other countries. We need to be the leaders in foreign affairs, not the bullies. When nations make treaties with each other, they defeat the idea of a United Nation. Is there a way to change this?

This plan has regulations and controls to make it work. This plan has everyone paying, will never go into debt, and is flexible to keep it current to the times. This plan will allow us to write-off our Medicare and Medicaid debt forever ,because we won't ever need that money ever again.

The problem with Social Security can also be solved following these same principles. Today we are collecting more than what we need. So our Federal Government, for the past 40 years, has been spending, without the taxpayers approval, all this excess money on programs no one knows anything about, didn't want and doesn’t serve all the people. Why not just reduce how much they collect and pay just the benefits. Keep track of where the money is going and let us know what each benefit is costing us. If we like what we are doing, there will be no problem for us to pay the bill. If not, our politicians will know and they can work on the problem. If more or less money is needed, adjust the %. Also all earnings should be taxed from dollar #1 to whatever is earned, no limit. The SS debt can be eliminated since we already spent the excess money and we won’t need that money ever again. If the government needs additional money to provide new programs, tax us and let us know what it will cost. We used to take care of our own parents and family, but times are different. Now we rely on the government to do this for us. As long as the government is not wasting the money, we should all be willing to take care of those in need. We can still do it with our democratic system. No big deal!.

Hybrid autos could benefit the lowest tax until it is acceptable for general use.

Green products could use the "A" tax. People could still choose to buy what they want, but will pay for their choice.

Summary of benefits:

1. Save big money, $100’s of billions a year.

2. Pays for the health care with todays dollars.

3. Uses a national sales tax system to fund the Universal Health Care costs, which pays for itself and will never go into debt.

4. Requiring the Federal Government to implement the plan; allows the medical experts to be responsible for its fairness; Charges the congress to regulate the tax based on factual data from a new records and statistics agency; and instructs the US Treasury to pay only the medical bills from its own health care fund, creating a complete clean system.

5. The health care fund used only for health care costs and adjusted such that no profits are made, makes for a sustainable system forever.

6. Insurance companies will go back to selling insurance to protect things of known value.

7 Politicians won’t have to be bothered with trying to fix an unfixable system.

8. Lobbyists won’t be needed in the health care business since the politicians are not making health care laws.

9. Eliminates the need for drug companies to advertise to the general public since doctors will prescribe drugs that the health care system will purchase. The best and most economical drugs will be used. When a better drug becomes available it will probably start using it as soon as the old drugs are used, eliminating waste.

10. Relieve the employer from the responsibility to provide health care for their employers. They immediately have more money at their disposal to perform their mission.

11. Eliminates the need for the federal government to insure those the insurance companies claim are bad risks.

12. Transfers our valuable volunteers from health care needs to areas such as education, housing etc.

13. Eliminates the effect of inflation to health care.

14. Workers are free to work where they want.

15. Unions can work with both the workers and employer to have the best and safest working conditions possible, without the fight over who pays for the health care. Survival of the company is most critical.

16. With prepaid health insurance, our people can again find their place in the work force and make a decent living.

I think the plan I am proposing make a lot of sense. Everyone pays for their own health care, up front, before they need it. There are rich people and poor people getting sick. Also some of the rich and poor go thru life without seeing a doctor. No one knows when they need health care, but knowing you’re covered is a good feeling. When you are young, you don’t need a doctor as much, but when you get older, doctors are important. It’s a good feeling to know that everyone is paying for the health care they are getting. Its also a good feeling to know that everyone has the same quality of care.

CAN WE MAKE THIS BETTER?

YES WE CAN