The salary of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group's chief executive would be enough to fund a major chunk of universal health coverage for three years, Hatch said. "In a health care system where children aren't covered, where's our conscience?" he asked.
Americans pay roughly double that of any other nation for health insurance, but the country is ranked low in longevity and in quality of care, he said.
Hatch offered ideas for reform including allowing employers to buy coverage from assigned-risk plans, purchasing pools for prescriptions, school clinics, mental-health assessment centers and greater accountability for the boards that oversee insurers.
Now this is what I am talking about! Of coarse Tim "weenie" Pawlenty has his predictable whine about taxes, but come on, with cost rising as fast as they are for every person who actually has coverage right now, and with all the inefficiencies and crazy salary/bonuses of the current health care(less) companies it would be cheaper to go Hatch's route, not more expensive. Plus, there is a very good argument to be made about a system like this being very beneficial to small businesses.
My one suggestion to Hatch would be as he is deciding how to start implementing this proposal, is to start by covering children first. It sure sounds like he is heading in that direction!
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