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Health Card: a new reform plan
1College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA.
Insights
The Health Card reform plan offers universal health coverage through government-issued credit cards. Households pay a percentage of costs, ensuring equitable sharing and potentially containing healthcare expenses via provider competition.
Area of Science:
- Health policy
- Healthcare economics
- Public health reform
Background:
- Current healthcare systems face challenges in achieving universal coverage and equitable cost-sharing.
- The need for innovative healthcare financing models is critical.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and evaluate the Health Card, a novel healthcare reform plan.
- To assess its potential for achieving universal health coverage and equitable patient cost-sharing.
Main Methods:
- The Health Card plan proposes government-issued health credit cards for all households.
- Utilizes a fee-for-service or Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) model.
- Cost-sharing is scaled to household income, with a cap on annual burden.
Main Results:
- Directly achieves universal health coverage for all households.
- Ensures equitable patient cost-sharing based on income.
- Government pays provider bills, avoiding direct provider regulation.
Conclusions:
- The Health Card model offers a direct pathway to universal healthcare.
- Provider competition for cost-sharing consumers can help contain healthcare costs.
- This reform promotes equitable financial participation in healthcare.
Abstract:
Health Card is a new reform plan. Every household, regardless of employment of health status, would receive a government-issued health credit card to use at the doctor's office or hospital like MasterCard. Later, it would be billed a percentage of the provider's charge--a percentage scaled to its last income tax return; its annual burden would never exceed a designated percentage of its income. Health Card would simply and directly achieve universal coverage and equitable patient cost-sharing. Like MasterCard, government would pay bills, not regulate providers. Each household would choose its medical provider (fee-for-service or HMO), bearing a percentage of the charge. Provider competition for cost-sharing consumers would help contain health care costs.
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