Surgeon’s Plan Turns Insurance Premium Into An Equity
Atlanta, GA – What if the expense of healthcare insurance, your premium, became part of your investment portfolio? Whether you are an individual, small business or large corporation, a plan developed by a physician in suburban Atlanta, Georgia would make you a stock holder in your health insurance company.
Ned Armstrong, a surgeon in suburban Atlanta, has been on the front lines of healthcare for over three decades. He, along with his patients, are at the end of the health care system’s complex funnel that begins with health insurance companies, Federal and State government health care programs, and pharmaceutical companies. The irrationality of the current system has been a growing frustration.
“Recently I overheard our staff and patients commiserating about the cost of healthcare insurance when someone said, ‘What do they expect, we’re only human.’ We are all human and gravitate toward something that gives more than what we pay for. So why not apply that fundamental instinct to health care coverage?” His idea began to take shape.
His plan, called the “Healthcare Investment Plan” (HIP), begins with publicly traded insurance companies. They would carry a diverse investment portfolio to make them a desirable investment choice and create a competitive market. Insurance premiums, which would be a kind of hybrid stock certificate. They would be split up to include both company ownership and medical coverage. That would turn the insurer from the role of patient care gatekeeper to focus more on its success as a health care company.
Armstrong’s HIP also folds Medicare and Medicaid funds into the mix. Low priced plans, which would have real market value, would encourage the currently uninsured to buy healthcare insurance.
For those who already have healthcare insurance, the investment strength of the insurance company would motivate individuals and companies to purchase the highest premium plans.
Armstrong has detailed HIP in a white paper outlining every fundamental aspect of his concept. He is currently developing relationships and providing presentations to Federal and state agencies. He developed the plan as a concerned individual who is directly impacted, both as a physician and personally, by the rising cost of healthcare insurance.
“I think the plan answers that innate part of human nature that makes us want to be in control and rewarded at the same time. I hope that will instinctively draw them to those two powerful magnets that everyone shares – health and wealth,” Armstrong said.