When It Makes Sense, It Won't Fly in D.C.

A Web site called Business Insider offers up a thoughtful analysis called "Our Health Care Wish List."

Now, mind you, probably none of the changes suggested in the article will ever be implemented, let alone even seriously discussed in Congress or the White House, but there are some good ideas in the piece.

Let me focus on a couple:

One is to let pharmacists write prescriptions, as is done in Europe (in Mexico, you just walk up to the pharmacy and buy what you want, I hear). What a time- and cost-saving idea. When I had a sore throat last year and knew I needed antibiotics, I had to trudge to the doctor's anyway and let her ring up a $200 office visit. What a waste of time and money. In Europe, I could've gone to the pharmacy and just asked for amoxicillin.

The other proposal is to create mini-doctors, which the article defines as "someone with minimal training," to examine sore throats and infections and treat them at $20 a pop. (Why not just train the pharmacists to do these basic functions?) I've always felt that most doctors' visits could just as easily be handled by nurse practitioners, but as I reconsider the situation, creating a new category like a corpsman in the Navy would be perfect.

I guess I should mention one other proposal--get rid of insurance entirely for the routine stuff and just use insurance for the big-ticket items that require specialized procedures and/or hospital stays--catastrophic insurance, in other words.

Personally, I would have no problem paying for the routine stuff if I could get a catastrophic policy for the price of a small car a month, say a couple of c-bills or so. Of course, bringing down the cost of medicine would help immensely too, but already WalMart and Target have huge lists of drugs they'll sell you for $4 a month or $10 for 90 days. If you can stick to the list, it's cheaper than using your insurance and its co-pay.

But, as I said, none of this will matter once the politicians debate health care reform. Then it will be all about creating government bureaucracies and so-called initiatives. And no one will take on the American Medical Association, so look for high-cost, physician-based insurance to reign from cradle to grave (except for the politicians who will feed off the taxpayers' largesse for free).

When government reforms something, we all end up paying.