• Tax breaks should make it beneficial for everyone to purchase health insurance.
• It should be an individual’s choice between having a prepaid health maintenance plan or paying small medical bills out of pocket as they come. The distinction between the two should be by the defined financial threshold, not the kind of service.
• Health insurance and its benefits, regardless of how it is bought, should be assigned to an individual, not a place of work. Health insurance plans purchased with the assistance of an employer should stay with the individual unless that person decides otherwise.
• The public should be encouraged to invest in health savings accounts. Funds accumulated there could give individuals greater freedom in selecting needed care — for example, paying for experimental treatments not yet approved by insurance companies.
• People who cannot afford health insurance should receive a basic health plan paid for by the government. That plan has to be good enough to fulfill the responsibilities of a compassionate society and just bad enough that few will choose it if they can afford another option.
• Seniors should be allowed to keep their commercial health insurance after retiring.