On the recordFebruary 7, 2011
There are things we mutually must do to make it easier and cheaper for people to get the health care they need, the doctors they want, at the price they can afford. Number 1, as my colleague mentioned, make it legal for people to shop around and buy across State lines. We can't do that right now in this country. That in itself, as studies show, would result in over 10 million Americans who don't have insurance today getting insurance. Most people get their insurance through work for the simple reason that it is a tax deduction to the company they get their insurance through, but if they buy insurance personally, individually, they have to pay taxes on that money before they pay for the insurance. So I think people who end up buying their health insurance individually ought to get the same tax benefits as those who get it through work do. That would make a big difference in bringing down the specific costs to those folks. I think we need to have incentives that help people actually stay healthy.
