Buy health care like you buy a home.

Let's use the classic example that everyone always uses, you walk outside and get hit by a bus and you are uninsured!. We are a civilized country so of course we will treat you when you are wheeled into the emergency room.  The problem that the ACA is attempting to solve is the uninsured who don't quality for medicaid and medicare but can't afford health insurance or have opted to risk it and not buy insurance.  This should be a relatively small amount of people.  The insurance companies make money by charging more in premiums than they pay in claims, that is there profit margin for providing you the ability to pay for your health care over time (in the form of monthly payments) rather than all at once, whereby you would probably go bankrupt.  So by paying for your health care upfront they lose the ability to make money from investing that money, and you gain the ability to invest or use the money you didn't lose by having to pay your whole bill upfront.  This is almost entirely identical to a mortgage or renting an apartment.  In both cases you are paying a small amount on a regular basis to get something now that is more than you could afford.  In both cases you are charged a fee for this benefit, either an interest payment or a premium that is slightly higher than what the insurance company actually expects you to need over a period of time.  Perhaps the better approach is to treat medical bills more like a mortgage.  Why can the insurance company just charge you interest on the balance of your medical bills until they are paid off.  The cost of say a pregnancy at 4% interest over the life time of a mortgage (30 years) would probably only be $100 bucks a month, that is probably cheaper than you are paying in health insurance premiums.  Not only that but your payments end when it is paid off (like a mortgage) and doesn't continue indefinitely like health insurance premiums.  You adjust the interest rate to account for the fact that if someone dies after their treatment and can't pay their bill, you would be covered from an actuarial standpoint.  The government could subsidize it like they currently do for mortgages and rent for poor people and you could right of the expense on your taxes.  This would more closely relate your decisions and lifestyle as an individual to what you pay in health costs.  The only downside is that people who are born with serious medical conditions would instantly be burdened with a debt they had to pay back.  However seeing as you are going be paying something a month no matter what (interest payments or premiums), you might as well pay for your own costs.  This would force you to shop for the best rates and most affordable care that they market offered as it will directly affect you financially.

Health Care and Cell Phones

When I first got a cell phone, probably in 2004, there were only a handful of providers. The phones were crappy, think black and white displays, two ring tones, no text messaging.  I think I paid around 45 dollars per month with sever limitations on minutes (300 anytime minutes, nights and weekends free).  This market is very lightly regulated compared to others, the FCC regulates the frequencies, and companies couldn't form a monopoly and had to respect privacy (or did they?).  Fast forward nearly 10 years later.  I now have a phone that does more things than I could have dreamed of 10 years ago, I have unlimited text messaging and minutes and can connect to the internet via WI-FI.  I only pay $10 dollars per month.  This is all done through the magic of companies competing for market share.  If only we would let the same power work for Health Insurance...