An Article in Forbes is Pretty Much on the Money

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I want to highlight this article by Steve Forbes called Free Markets, Not Mandates, Will Fix Our Broken Healthcare System. I think he pretty much nails but unfortunately, it is behind a paywall, so let me give you some quotes and highlights with my opinions next to them.

Washington’s political class keeps insisting that our healthcare problems can be solved with more regulations, more dictates and more bureaucratic tinkering. The results of this command-and-control mindset speak for themselves: exploding premiums, shrinking choices and a healthcare system that’s increasingly unresponsive, unaccountable and unaffordable.

For all of us who have worked in the system, he is correct. I have always said that a physician’s happiness is inversely proportional to the amount of administrative drag in his or her life.

I recently saw this video and though it is not about America or healthcare, it is related:

We don’t need more government engineering; we need more freedom. When individuals, not bureaucrats, control healthcare dollars, innovation flourishes, costs come down and patients receive better care. This is the same formula that has made the U.S. the global leader in technology, finance and consumer products. There’s no reason healthcare should be any different.

Freedom for cash-based and subscription-based providers to compete openly

Yes! Direct Primary Care is the epitome of this medical freedom. Freedom for the physician and freedom for the patient. We have brought costs down already. We have made healthcare better already.

Here were his recommendations. He gave details in the article, but I don’t think I need to repeat them as they are obvious.

• Empower Americans with True Universal Health Savings Accounts

• Restore Reality to Health Insurance

• Make Catastrophic Coverage the Foundation of Health Insurance Again

• Demand Real Price Transparency

• A Safety Net That Elevates, Not Entraps

I agree on all fronts. The formula should be DPC + HSA + CC = fixed healthcare system. (CC = catastrophic coverage).

Those who need help should receive it—but in a form that maximizes dignity and choice. Vouchers would give low-income Americans the ability to buy the same innovative private plans as anyone else.

DPC docs treat Medicaid patients all the time. As long as these vouchers have no metric strings attached, then I am all for it.

Overall, it was a good piece but nothing we haven’t said in this blog over and over again. Let’s just hope the message keeps spreading.

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About Douglas Farrago, MD

Dr. Farrago is a retired family physician based in Forest, Virginia. Since 2021, he has run DPCnews.com, a leading resource for the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement. He is the author of three best-selling books on Direct Primary Care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) In 2016, Dr. Farrago conceived the idea for the Direct Primary Care Alliance and co-founded the organization alongside other pioneering DPC physicians. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the DPC model and frequently lectures to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians on how to successfully start and run their own DPC practices.Dr. Farrago sold his Direct Primary Care practice in October 2020 but continues to receive care there as a patient.