This is a hot topic and frankly, what better way to get more readers than to discuss a hot topic like Obama’s health care reform (google rankings, here I come).  You see, I think I have a solution to the problem and really, we already have a system in place here in America that we can look to as a model when discussing health care reform and you know what, it works pretty darn good. I’m not saying its perfect, but I am saying with a little tweaking, this model could help our politicians develop the best health care system in the world. This is America after all. We don’t follow other countries, we lead other countries to new and better places with our innovating spirit and drive. When discussing health care reform, look no further than our own auto insurance industry as a road map for success.

1. How do you insure every single person? In the auto insurance business, every single person that wants insurance can buy insurance. There is not one single person out there that can’t find auto insurance. Even though a bad driver may have higher premiums than a good driver, the bad driver can still find someone out there that is willing to take their premiums every month and insure that individual. Health insurance should be the same way. Health insurance companies should not be allowed to deny someone because of prior medical problems. “But won’t the insurance companies charge too much to insure someone with lots of prior medical problems?” Maybe, but that leads me to my next point.

2. How do you lower the cost of health care? Tort reform? No. Competition? YES! Every single person that has had any class in economics knows when you increase competition, costs go down. The auto insurance industry is a perfect example of competition. Big companies (Allstate, Farmers, State Farm, Travelers, etc.) all compete against each other on a NATIONAL level, not just the STATE level. That means Allstate, headquartered in Illinois, can sell auto insurance to anyone in any state. Health insurance companies are not allowed to sell health insurance in the same way. They cannot cross state lines to sell health insurance. This hinders competition and increases the price of premiums due to the lack of competition. If state lines were no longer an issue and I could buy from any health insurance company from across the nation, like auto insurance, health insurance companies would compete for my premium dollars and prices would go down.

3. Pay out of pocket for normal maintenance/preventative care. When your car needs an oil change, do you call your insurance company to make a claim so they can pay for your oil change? No. What about if you need new brakes, tires, tune up or battery? Of course not. Yet we are willing to pay out of pocket for these things because we know if we don’t, we will have bigger problems down the road. So why do we expect our health insurance to pay for every single dollar we incur in health care costs? We shouldn’t. If every person were required to pay out of pocket for the simple visits to the doctor, costs would go down in two ways. First, people would be more selective when deciding to go to the doctor or not. They would stop visiting the doctor for every single sniffle that came up and would only go to the doctor when they feel they have a serious issue that only a doctor can help them with. Second, you would be more likely to get “checked out” for the bigger things (yearly physicals, prostate exams, mammograms, etc) more often to try and catch them early on to lower your own financial exposure should something catastrophic show up in your life. Everyone knows a $30 oil change every 3000 miles can prolong the life of your car engine. Your yearly exams can prolong your life and problems caught early on can significantly decrease the cost of treating those problems should something arise.

4. Everyone should be required to purchase a minimum health insurance policy or be fined. Sure you can drive your car without auto insurance, but if you get pulled over by the police, you get a fine. It’s against the law to drive without auto insurance and it should be against the law to not carry health insurance. If you choose to not carry health insurance, you should be fined in a way similar to driving without auto insurance. I’m talking about the people out there that choose not purchase health insurance even though they can afford it. They think they are too healthy or they can’t get hurt, but when they do get sick or hurt and they end up in the hospital, they don’t pay for it, the taxpayers end up paying for it. Again, I am talking about people that can afford it, but choose not to. Obviously there are people that cannot afford to pay for a minimum policy and we already have something in place for them, its called medicaid and medicare.

5. Make health insurance policies easier to understand. When I buy auto insurance, I know exactly what I am purchasing and how much coverage I am getting. I still might be a little confused on some things like what is PIP or Medpay and what is the difference between Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) versus Uninsured motorist coverage (UM), but the basics to auto insurance are simple to understand. Health insurance should be the same way. The minimum policy that everyone should be required to purchase should be understood by all and upgrading to more coverage should easily be outlined with the associated cost. I’m no rocket scientist so please don’t write my health insurance policy as if I am.

I know not everyone will agree with me, but I think if you look long and hard at how affordable auto insurance is and how well it works despite its flaws, you will find the ground work for the best healthcare reform this nation, or the world for that matter, has ever seen.