Dedicated to Senator Ted Kennedy - a 2009 Bipartisan Acceptable and Self Financing Basic Health Care Program

I dedicate THE CANDU MEMORANDUM for a 2009 Bipartisan Acceptable and Self Financing Basic Health Care Program to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

I want to be POTUS's White Knight if POTUS and Congress will listen and read The Candu Memorandum for a 2009 Bipartisan acceptable Self Financing BASIC UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM.

Senator Kennedy during his lifetime through legislation sponsored and supported by him has made a major contribution for improving the health care of all Americans - US Citizens. As Senator Kennedy has said (to paraphrase) 70% of a loaf is better than no loaf when it comes to politics and health care.

POTUS Would you at least consider a new and different bipartisan acceptable approach to obtain a BASIC UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM that will also help resolve our economic crisis, health care crisis, and Social Security Fund Crisis?

This program, which uses the THEORY OF TAX-Enomics ( of which I am the founder and foremost authority in the country), to accomplish this. It will also enable small business and the American Consumer to have more disposable dollars and lower labor costs and thus be a major force to turning around our economy.

We need to use the Theory of Tax-Enomics to solve our health care crisis, our financial crisis and to simultaneously stimulate the economy. The stimulus must be geared to give the taxpayer worker more disposable spendable income with better basic health care coverage at a reasonable cost, and it should be tied to the creation of private sector jobs and reducing US labor costs to make them more competitive globally. The key is the revision and immediate reduction of the graduated downward tax – (our HIDDEN ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX) the Social Security Payroll tax, offset by removal of the cap on earnings it is subject to.
SPECIFICALLY:

• Reduce the Social Security rate to 2.50% on the first $200,000 and then to 3.25% on excess over $200,000 with no top cap for employer and employee. Now we have room for a 1.45% Basic Health Care Tax with no cap for both employee and employer that will work like Medicare.
• Companies will only need then to offer a medi-gap health insurance policy to their employees, if they want to or can, where patients can choose their own medical care, and which will simply the insurance reimbursement system.

This combined program would image what Congress and other federal employees have. However now they would have to pay like the rest of us for the Basic Health Care Tax from their earnings, but their employer - the Federal Government will purchase a Medigap policy to provide the additional benefits equal to their present coverage, just as private employers can offer the same to their employees.

Additionally, this basic health care tax would also be charged against Unemployment Insurance benefits (People still need basic health care even if unemployed). There would be a six month delay before the first payment of any benefits under the new basic health care program to allow the program to begin funding. Additionally, the program would emphasize benefits for prevention. For those that have no coverage because they are not employed or collecting unemployment insurance, they will be allowed to purchase at a minimum cost from the Basic Health Care System the same coverage.

The program initially will have somewhat lower benefits than medicare, but eventually would rise to the same level of benefits as Medicare, and it could be integrated with Medicare for cost effective administration of benefits.

Note: Medicare has approximately a 3% administrative cost, compared to the insurance industry's 23% cost of administration.

• To offset any loss for the Social Security Fund (now and in the future) and to help fund the Medicare Fund (which will include the Basic Health Care Program), we would establish, under the Social Security Fund, the SSMIF (The Social Security and Medicare Investment Fund). Congress, by legislation, would do the following:
  1. Transfer financial ownership of the Strategic Oil Reserve to the SSMIF.
  
  2. Each year Congress would provide an appropriation to be added to the Strategic Oil Reserve equal to 5% of the Reserve at the current market price. The SSMIF would be empowered to use the appropriations in excess of the basic strategic reserve to purchase oil or oil futures, when the market price is low. At the same time when the market price rises too high (due to greed of APEC and oil speculators), the SSMIF will sell off any part of it new appropriation to help reduce the market price. The profit from these transactions will be deposited into the Social Security Fund and or the Medicare Fund to build them up. The principal from the transaction would be available for future reinvestment.
  
  3. Congress, by legislation, will transfer financial ownership of the Financial Institutions and Automotive Industry equity acquired from the recent Taxpayer Bailouts to the SSMIF. When the respective financial institutions and automotive manufacturers repay their debts in the future with interest, the SSMIF will deposit the proceeds into the Social Security Fund and or the Medicare Fund to build them up.
  
  4. The FHA should deposit with the SSMIF financial ownership of Reverse Mortgages equal to any appropriations received from Congressional legislation for funding these mortgages. These assets when collected in the future will be then be deposited by the SSMIF into the Social Security Fund and or Medicare Fund to build them up.
  
  5. The FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could establish a "REX" Type mortgage program for new home owners or to keep homeowners in their home in exchange for a share in future appreciation of the real estate that the lenders and the SSMIF will share. These mortgage assets could work similarly to Reverse Mortgages. Appropriations to fund these mortgage funding agencies for these programs would provide that the financial ownership of these assets would be transferred to the SSMIF. These assets when collected in the future will be then be deposited by the SSMIF into the Social Security Fund and or Medicare Fund to build them up.
  
  6. All of the recommended procedures for streamlining the costs of administering medical care - such as a massive transformation to a digital format, perhaps with a secure encrypted database could be instrumental in reducing testing and diagnostic costs as better info for each patient would be integrated and more available as needed to improve patient care. All prescriptions when ordered would be checked against a national database for each patient for possible conflicts to avoid prescription and diagnostic mistakes. This may even be helpful in avoiding possible mal-practice law suites.
  
  7. The Basic Health Care program could offer optionally purchased limited catastrophic illness coverage. This solves a lot of problems and can be self financing.
  
  More power for the congressional taxpayer financial buck spent.
  
  For any questions about this outline of a Basic Health Care Program and the above funding for Social Security Fund, Medicare Fund (Including the Basic Health Care Program), I am available for questions and or consultation.
  
  PS: a side benefit would be that the President would have Presidential "Plate" partially cleared which would allow more family time and basketball time.
  
  MRCANDU10 (Cousin of MR.Get-It Done)