I’ve already mentioned public sharing of health care costs rather than having health insurance national or private, but I’ve had one or two more thoughts about what I’d like to see in health care reform:
Malpractice insurance: Moderate–not crazy big–lawsuit payouts could help to control costs, and a government assumption of physicians’ liability could prove beneficial, especially if my customer reviews and full disclosure ideas (below) were around to help weed out the bad docs. Presumably, lower–or no–malpractice insurance costs for doctors would allow for more affordable service.
Customer reviews: I don’t buy from eBay sellers with low ratings, and if ratings were available for health care providers, I’d check them out, too. I’m talking about a beefed-up and free Angie’s List.
Full disclosure: If their complete professional credentials were readily available, I’d know which doctors are trained to meet my needs.
Controlling medical bills: Hey, insurance companies do it already, so what’s wrong with the government meddling, too?
Medical records: Finally, I wouldn’t mind being able to access all of my records online, even if it was Google managing the service (provided they don’t pull another Buzz “share all your info” stunt).