Healthcare costs are high due to government regulations that reduce competition and prevent patients from paying directly for healthcare!

Healthcare costs can be significantly reduced by changing regulations to allow Americans to pay directly at the time of the service for non-catastrophic healthcare services with pre-tax dollars. Studies show that doctors spend at least half of their time on documentation for the government and the insurance companies. Doctors also have to hire administrative staff to help with current coding requirements and collections challenges. When a customer pays directly at the time of the service, many of these administrative hassles are avoided. This proposed system is more efficient in that it frees up doctors to see more patients, thereby significantly reducing the cost per visit.  The reason that most patients do not pay directly now is because direct payments are usually not tax deductible. With a “smart premium,” part of the insured’s monthly tax-deductible premium is deposited into a “cash account” that the patient uses to pay for non-catastrophic expenses, while the other part of their premium pays for a catastrophic insurance plan. This system would incentivize the insured to be healthy and to shop around for the best price on healthcare services.  In turn, this will result in better healthcare at a lower cost and more choice for the patient.