Okay, kids, the fight to fund health care is on. We all know what we want: a government-run public option to compete alongside private insurers, as a means of bringing down the cost of insuring consumers, with the ultimate goal of covering all of the uninsured.
But the naysayers are out in force, don't ya know....it's too expensive, it'll kill the private insurance industry, etc.,etc. (Here's a kicker: conservatives want competition for public schools, but when it comes to competition for private health insurance companies...PUH-LEEZE.)
So, here's a couple of (probably offbeat)suggestions I'd like to present that I think would solve this problem. Follow me....
First off, since it's going to be a public option, give taxpayers the option of funding it. How? Use the presidential campaign fund as an example. Why not either 1.)create a separate check box on our tax returns to allot $3.00 towards the public option, same as the presidential campaign fund?; 2.) raise the presidential campaign fund allotment from $3.00 to $5.00, with the extra two dollars going to the public health fund?; or 3.) for the first two years of a presidential term, devote the presidential campaign fund completely to funding the public option, convert it back to the presidential fund in the third year (after the mid-term)so it can be replinished for the next presidential campaign, then switch it back to funding the public option in the fourth year of the presidential term?
But for my second idea, something that could be far more simpler: keep a small portion from every American's tax refund and put it towards the public option. Calculate the portion withheld from the refund based on the taxpayer's income, i.e. $10-$20 for Americans making $25-$75,000, $20-$40 for those making $75-250,000, $40-80 for those between $250-$750,000, etc. (I admit, the amounts may be pretty small, but I'm just throwing them up as an example.)
Now all this would need some serious research, something that, regretfully, I can't do at the moment (I work overnights, and I should be in bed NOW--but this couldn't wait.) So I eagerly await your comments...and I thank you!!!