Model Health Care?

I am not a supporter of government-run health care. Nor am I a proponent of universal health care, a la the Hillary Clinton model or any other socialist scheme. That being said, however, there is no question that the United States health care model could use some improvement. I would fight against adopting the Canadian (or God forbid, the Cuban) model that Hillary and other rich hypocrites like Michael Moore want to foist upon us. But there may be a viable alternative or two out there.

With that in mind, former Senator Jim Talent of Missouri, who is currently Chairman of the Romney for President Domestic Policy Task Force, has written an article praising Romney's reform of the Massachusetts health-care industry. While the source must be considered, if Talent's article is correct, then this may be one possibility for reforming the national health=-care system as well. But I still have a few concerns:

First, we need to ensure that illegal aliens cannot access any new national health-care system. If they need medical care, they need to pay up-front for it; they should not be allowed any of its benefits otherwise.

Second, we need to ensure that government gets its nose out of healthcare. The last thing we need is more bureaucracy involved in our health-care system. Deregulation is essential if any real reform is to succeed. The key, as Talent says in describing Romney's reforms,

Finally, Governor Romney recognized that competition is the key to the success of any market – so doing what no one had ever done before, he created a new market where consumers can go to pick the health care plan that suits them best.

Competition, not over-regulation, is the key to success. If everyone is concentrating on producing the best product for the least amount of money, and the consumer is able to choose, then many of the current issues will go away in my opinion.

Finally we need to get lawyers out of the equation. too many doctors and medical institutions are so fearful of these ambulance-chasers that they will do unnecessary tests, driving up sots, so as to avoid deadly lawsuits. We need to cap malpractice awards and also to eliminate the ability of people who have actually never suffered to gain from class-action lawsuits. Get lawyers out of healthcare and I think we will find that healthcare becomes affordable again. Maybe if doctors refused care to lawyers that might be a start?

Talent's article does not provide enough information to make a truly informed opinion on the success or failure of Romney's reforms in Massachusetts. But is does provide a possible path for national reform, if taken judiciously. Read the whole thing.