Health Care Reform Proposals Won't Solve the Uninsured Problem

Health-care reform proposals from the California legislature, governor and top presidential candidates are nothing more than a patchwork of ideas that won't solve our uninsured crisis. The proposals continue to link insurance coverage to employment, which isn't much different than what we have now.
The Democratic legislature has passed a law that would force employers to offer some form of health insurance to their employees, no matter how small the business. This means a physician with one office workers would have to provide health insurance. The governor refuses to sign the legislation, and his proposal would put the same requirement on employers who have 10 or more employees. And presidential candidate Hilary Clinton's plan would also require employers or employees to purchase health insurance, similar to the law that requires car owners to purchase vehicle insurance.
True universal health insurance cannot be linked to employment. Even when the employment rate is at an all time high, there are still millions of people without jobs, and health insurance. People who are unemployed, or self employed, would still be faced with trying to get health insurance they can't afford. And when a person is unemployed, food and shelter are more important than spending money on health insurance.
Policy makers are still trying to please too many special interest groups with health care reform. They need to wipe the slate clean, and start thinking about the best way to cover everyone regardless of employment status. As Americans, and Californians, we can create a system that is better than other countries with socialized medicine. We can design a system that still offers choice, and maintains the free market nature we cherish.
The Medicare system may be the best option for universal health care. Medicare allows its members to choose from a variety of health plans, HMOs, PPOs and fee-for-service. Members can pay more money to get better coverage. It's a system that's already in place, and could be easier to implement than trying to create an entirely new system.
The challenge is how to pay for the additional coverage. One of the best proposals to fund national health insurance is through a sales tax. Such a tax is a fair way to support universal coverage because everyone in the country would be contributing something, even the millions who are undocumented, and others who are already on Medicaid and Medicare.
As a part of the program, people can choose their own health insurance plan, and pay additional money if they want to purchase an upgrade. And employers can offer employees additional coverage, and continue to get tax breaks.
A national health insurance plan supported with sales tax is not a new idea. This has been proposed by scholars for the last several years, but appears to be ignored by legislators. Anything less than true universal coverage, regardless of employment status, will not solve our problem.