Suffocating Inside the Obamacare Box

I haven't read the 2600+ pages of the bill, but from what I can tell it fails to deliver any creative solutions.   It just throws money at a broken system.  Ask Microsoft if throwing money at MSN or Windows Mobile has made them the leader in either of these markets.  It hasn't.

I'm comfortable in believing that reform is necessary.  But reform in my mind means stepping outside the box and trying to view the problem through a completely different lens.  Our government needs to problem-solve like Google.

Google would start with root cause analysis--instead of focusing on why so many people can't afford health care, it would ask why they need so much of it to begin with.  I'm betting that the bulk of health care costs are a result of avoidable, self-inflicted, lifestyle choices (poor choices that is).

So what kinds of outside the box ideas are floating around out there?

How about challenging why implementation of a "new system" has to be all or nothing.  Why not implement in one volunteer state so its effectiveness can be evaluated, its problems fine-tuned prior to a national rollout.  Worst case:  the government is on the hook for an expensive health care solution in, say Utah, instead of the whole country.  I haven't heard this one before, but it seems logical to me.

How about seriously considering if there's a place for elements of Harry Rosen's health care for his hotel employees.  Yea it's bold, it may have flaws, but it has some major benefits and is clearly out of the box thinking.  Is there a place for government incentives to stimulate this kind of individual responsibility?

While I'm not sold on all of his ideas, John Mackey (CEO of Whole Foods) offered this one that is new to me, and I like it:

"...revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program."

Mackey's article is definitely worth reading, if for no other reason than to learn how Whole Foods manages its health care costs--interesting.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not hearing anything like these risk management alternatives in Obamacare.  From what I can tell it's pretty straight up:  infuse more money, attempt to manipulate the free market, and create no incentives to improve individual responsibility (oh, I forgot, and pray a lot).