Health

So here's a real reform for health care in the United States:

1. No public or private employer of any kind may reimburse any person by any means in whole or in part for health care, health insurance, or any similar perquisite, except employers of the following persons by virtue of the risk they take on behalf of the general welfare:

- United States military active duty and retired personnel by Department of Defense

- State and local police officers by their respective agency

- State and local firefighters by their respective agency

2. No state may prohibit the sale of health insurance or pre-paid medical care by any registered insurance company, nor prescribe the rates for coverage of the coverage provided, if the company is properly registered in any state of the United States.

3. Every insurance company shall be required to provide high-deductible insurance against catastrophic health care costs, regardless of prior health of the insured.

4. The cost of premiums paid by individuals for health insurance or pre-paid medical care shall be fully deductible from state and federal income taxes, and not subject to alternative minimum tax or other such reductions in deductibility.

5. No change shall be made in the standards of eligibility for Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP, or other existing health care programs, but participation in each shall be voluntary, and persons who elect not to participate shall be fully reimbursed for their past contributions with interest at the effective LIBOR+2 rate.

6. Citizens whose total family income, including the income of former spouses within the period considered, averaged less than 125% of the then existing Federal poverty standard when averaged over the preceding 10 years, shall receive Federal medical insurance equal to the current Medicare benefit without cost to the covered individual.

7. Malpractice suits shall be subject to loser-pays provisions, and non-financial loss awards under such suits shall not exceed the average annual income of the injured party for the preceding three years. No exemplary damages shall be permitted. Contingent legal fees shall not exceed 25% of the total award.

8. No person shall be entitled to free treatment by any medical provider or at any medical facility, except that private charity may provide such treatment directly or through arrangements with any for-profit or not-for-profit institution.

9. Any uninsured person treated by any medical provider or at any medical facility shall by accepting treatment grant a lien on all real property and earnings of such person until payment in full is collected.

10. Any financial institution may form a group of voluntary participants from its depositors and borrowers for the purchase of health insurance or pre-paid medical care by any registered insurance company at a discounted group rate, and may be compensated in the related premiums charged to participants for the actual administrative costs of this effort.