He may not be the first you’d think to offer “capitalist” free-market solutions to health care but Whole Foods CEO and co-founder John Mackey is offering some capitalist solutions to our nations health care problems.  The fact that the White House is only willing to look at government controlled solutions is what is frustrating.  Instead of weighing out the options, addressing the desires of the country and population, they ignore all in an all out blind effort to ramrod government policy down our throats.  I definitely recognize that if you are going to oppose one issue, you better be ready to offer an alternative solution and John does a pretty good job in his recent commentary for the Wall Street Journal here.  It is especially interesting when he is receiving a fair amount of backlash from Whole Foods’ liberal customer segment.  News flash! He might agree with you on dietary choices and wellness but it is allowed to differ in opinion on public policy! John Stossel addresses this commentary and the opposition to it in a recent blog post here.  Stossel said the following about this:

The hostility of some of his customers is breathtaking. Disagree with his opinion if you will, but Mackey is making a good-faith effort to offer his views on health care reform. Because they don’t conform to liberals’ fantasies for  some iteration of a government-dominated plan, they want him to shut up? They seem to think they own the man’s opinions.

Mackey first identifies that we do need health care reform but when government has restricted the free market from working in health care to such an extent, blaming the market for the problems is fantasy.

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment.

He offers the following solutions to help replace the proposed reforms with capitalist freedoms:

• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs)… This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan’s costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.

• Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.

• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.

• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.

• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.

• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor’s visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?

• Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.

• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

These are just a few possibilities and allow people to more fully control their own destiny and life.  It is interesting that so many have decided that equality in health care is so essential. As Mackey asks, more important than food and shelter?

Health-care reform is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible, and that we have the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.

Although I may not agree with Mr Mackey on other things, I applaud this effort…

Tags: capitalism, free markets, health-care