title: A better idea for United States health care--the balanced choice proposal.
abstract: This article introduces a promising new health care financing proposal for physician payment called Balanced Choice. It summarizes the implications of health care economics and current well-publicized health care reform proposals, each of which is problematic for physicians and their patients. The Balanced Choice proposal is for an integrated two-tier national system, which has an economically efficient universal plan similar to single-payer, but with an option for enhanced services using market forces at the doctor-patient level to manage care. The two tiers are linked together and balanced so that each complements and enhances the other. Balanced Choice solves the problems of other proposals in a way that would work well for doctors and for patients, and represents a fresh and uniquely American solution to the problem of health care financing.
authors.affiliation: John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, USA. sbkemble@lava.net
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kemble
mesh_terms: D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000191:economics*; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States