Executive summary

This proposal is based on the principles in the Health Care Magna Carta at www.oconnorhealthanalyst.com/magnacarta.html and included in Appendix 1. It is important that sweeping change in the U.S. healthcare system take place in a short period of time. This document lays out the changes and transition plans, as well as an ongoing plan for fimding and support for a new style of healthcare system, which will result in high-quality affordable healthcare for all Americans. The problems are legion and well-known: cost shifting from government onto the sick and the infirm; lack of choice for medical expense coverage, leaving either an all-or-nothing plan9 or payment out-of-pocket for everything; money sq~midered providing insurance rather than care; and lack of individual choice of care, provider or payment method.

The opening moves in this renovation of healthcare can only be made by government, which is the sole group with the power to bind itself and others to a process of change

Therefore, the Congress shall enact, and the president shall sign, a sweeping healthcare reform bill9 based on the principles that the U.S. government is bound to protect the interests of all Americans; many Americans have no healthcare and many more have trouble affording it; and it is the duty of Congress to act to cause healthcare to be accessible and affordable to all Americans.

Contained within that legislation will be:

1. A continuation of Medical Savings Account laws, with some important clarifications.
2. Malpractice liability will be capped, limiting liability for all medical professionals and facilities.
3. Reform prescription drug coverage.
4. Reforming government administration of Medicare and Medicaid.
5. Providing incentives to businesses to participate in this new system?
6. Creating national, regional and statewide health planning boards to allocate healthcare resources effectively across the nation.

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