Health Savings Accounts a Winning Reform Strategy
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) health care reform proposal "underscores the abysmal ignorance of so many -- including boatloads of business executives and entrepreneurs -- about what it takes to bring rationality, productivity and lower prices to the health care market," Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes, writes in the Feb. 12 issue.
"The biggest problem" with universal health care plans is the "disconnect between providers and consumers," because "[w]hen the consumer has little control over a market, that market goes haywire," according to Forbes.
Furthermore, requiring that all individuals obtain health coverage "would guarantee a rapid move to de facto nationalized health care," he writes. "This would mean more money for less health care" and would discourage health care innovation, according to Forbes.
Forbes also notes that health insurance tax incentives proposed by President Bush "are no solution, either -- just futzing around with a flawed system."
Instead, Forbes advocates health savings accounts, which he says "are slowly gaining ground." He concludes, "When people control the money, they endeavor to get more value for it, and productivity gains ensue" (Forbes, Forbes, 2/12).