Policy Proposal: In order to responsibly enhance market competition, consumer choice, and lower prices in the economically idiosyncratic health care industry, personal health savings accounts should be implemented nationally. Employers should contribute health care funds directly to the employee's account, allowing the employee to then select the insurer of his or her choice. Health insurers should be required to make relevant premium, deductible and coverage information immediately available directly to all employees upon employment, so employees can select the insurer that best satisfies their individual health care needs, enhancing competition in the market. Plans chosen with costs greater than the employer's standard offered health coverage amount can simply be financed through a simple payroll income deduction, forwarded directly to the health savings account. Such a system would do much to increase market competition to increase consumer choice and knowledge in the health insurance industry, which will eventually hope to improve responsiveness and lower insurance costs for all consumers. Additionally, the personal control of the savings accounts will allow employees to transfer jobs more easily, without worrying about losing health insurance tied to a specific employer. Furthermore, health care vouchers, through the negative income tax, can be used to close the remaining financial gap for uninsured Americans, instead of distorting competitive market forces with expensive and inefficient programs such as Medicare, et al.
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