PLANTATION, FL – What does a certified public accountant with a background in real estate know about the health care industry that qualifies him to propose a reform idea?
If it is Alan Scharf, a lot.. He has battled cancer and his insurance company for the past year and is also the primary caretaker of an elderly parent so he's seen the shortcomings of America's health care system up close. Instead of just complaining, he has put his ideas on paper.
A number cruncher, Scharf attacks the major problem: cost. “If you can knock the cost down 25 percent – and I think 40 percent in savings are possible – a trillion dollar price tag shrinks to $600 billion. The plans offered to date address payment and benefit but not the underlying structural cost problems of delivering healthcare,”
The Wharton School graduate specializes in strategic planning and execution. He put that background to use to develop his plan for healthcare reform. Scharf's plan covers everyone, gives patients choices about their health care – including but not limited to the doctor of their choice. He suggests a combination of federal tax credits, deductibles and out-of-pocket payments to finance the plan.
Looking at the numbers, Scharf reached the “obvious conclusions”
His “out-of-the-
He even has a plan to control drug costs that are spiraling out of control. Reign in the cost by increasing competition between drug companies on production of new drugs by extending the patent life but removing exclusivity in manufacturing.
Scharf proposes a medical trust accessed by a healthcare credit card that could also be enhanced to carry a patient's entire medical history as the nation moves toward digitizing medical records. The risk could be financed by the insurance companies. He said it would be a good idea to have insurance companies in their traditional role, risk management, rather than making health care decisions.
“This system is flexible and can reflect the economy and other demands on the federal budget. If it's structured correctly it can be deficit-neutral, pay as you go.”
His idea doesn't cut out any of the special interests who are jockeying for a piece of the action, lobbying congress to protect their financial stake in U.S. health care. Still, he has had a hard time getting a hearing for his ideas. Recently, he placed an op-ed with a major newspaper chain and participated in a radio interview with a station near his home in southeast Florida to discuss his proposal.
Scharf has no financial interest in his proposal. It kept him productively occupied while he battled the insurance company and the side effects of treatment after cancer surgery. He is now in remission and wants to contribute his ideas to the national dialogue.
For more information or to discuss his healthcare reform proposal, contact Scharf at 954-474-2411 or abscharf@bellsouth.net.
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Contact Ann Wilmer at Capital Letters at 410-341-0120.
