I am a member of an organization called the Health Policy Consensus Group which is composed of health care policy analysts from national and state-based think tanks. This week, the Consensus Group released a comprehensive health care plan that puts patients, along with their doctors, in charge of their health care. (here) The plan will hopefully serve as a platform for meaningful health care reform.

The basics of the plan are:

• Give patients similar tax deductions that employers now have, with greater insurance portability.
• Price transparency.
• Eliminate surprise medical bills through transparency and truth in advertizing.
• Patient benefits for choosing lower-cost, high-quality health care.
• Better options to cover pre-existing conditions and inability to pay.
• More health insurance options and expand the use of health savings accounts
• Make telemedicine permanent.
• Remove regulatory barriers that stifle innovation in health care.

The Consensus Group plan is in response to the political left’s incremental movement toward complete government control of the U.S. health care delivery system. Regardless of the outcome of next month’s election, the CG’s plan is an excellent alternative to socialized medicine. It places patients, not the government, in charge of health care in the U.S.