MEDICAL COST REDUCING PROGRAM

          We definitely need legislation to reduce the costs of medical treatment in this country.  We do not need to completely overhaul our whole medical treatment system by going to a government run program.  There are many improvements we can make short of throwing the baby out with the bath water.  We do not need a 2000 page bill that few have even read, and fewer yet can understand.

          The old Chinese Proverb that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.  The problem with current proposed legislation is that they want to go from the first inch to a thousand miles in one jump.  We need to attack this problem one step at a time.  I suggest the following steps:

1. Stop using the term “Tort Reform”, and start referring to changes as Legal Medical Legislation.  Pass legislation establishing specific awards for proven acts of malpractice.  This would help doctors practice their profession without ordering unnecessary  “defensive tests”, and acquiescing to the extortion of buying high priced malpractice insurance.
2. Allow Americans to shop for the best insurance rates, and purchase their insurance in any State they wish.
3. Force medical manufactures to offer Americans “most favorable customer” status.  This will keep other countries from purchasing medicines at a lower price than Americans.
4. Stop insurance companies from canceling policies for excessive use.
5. Make all industrial policies portable, so Americans can keep their policies with lower rates, if they choose.
6. No one over they age of 35 should be denied coverage of a pre-existing condition.