Thanks to all on the thread
My ideas were generated from interviews with people in the wellness and insurance industries over the last two years, including people involved in predictive health.
What businesses tell me is that the best way to lower health care costs is wellness. Do everything you can to keep people from getting sick and you can make a material impact on the cost curve.
I suggested "tax" and everyone ran from the hills. But I'm no hypocrite. If everyone has to pay in and get something out I'm not going to call it a "user fee." If it's universal it's a tax.
My suggestion is that this be a pass-through to wellness companies, who are able to choose whom to serve and offer a variety of plans based on folks' age and risk.
If I know you need a colonoscopy and regular heart screeings this year, I'm not going to give you the bottom-level plan with the health club and the massage. That's the market at work.
All this can be automated. The overhead costs of running automated plans are really very low. That's why insurers have such high profit margins.
