Originally Posted by $5 submissions

The best REFORM for healthcare I can think of is a MARKET-BASED reform. 1) Set uniform standards for care and legal protections (this reduces the cost of defensive medicine) 2) Using these standards, allow HMOs and health companies to send patients overseas for much cheaper medical care 3) Allow health insurance companies to sell policies across state lines 4) enter medical standardization treaties with other countries 5) strict accreditation of foreign medical institutions.

Healthcare becomes way way cheaper, the market for medical services expands, developing countries step their game up through technology transfer/standards proliferation, patients get high quality care at lower costs, there's many benefits.

Why is this better than the Public Option? Because private players have an incentive to keep costs down and profits up. Competition breeds innovation and excellence. Bureaucracies lead to rationing and other problems. If there's anyone who can pull this off, it's the US.