The CEO of Whole Foods Market has some interesting ideas on how to lower the cost of health care for everyone --without adding to the deficit.   John Mackey, the CEO at Whole Foods wrote an Op/Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal last week.  Some of his reform ideas are powerful, practical, obvious and definitely worth mentioning:

1.       Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  These plans have been adopted by more than 12 million consumers and all the recent research indicates these plans are not only successful in holding down costs, but consumer satisfaction is rising for CDHPs .  Read about consumer-driven health plans.

2.       Balance the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individual health insurance have the same tax benefits.  Today employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not.

3.       Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.

4.       Repeal government mandates that determine what insurance companies must cover.

5.       Pass tort reform to end the damaging lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to consumers through much higher prices for health care.

6.       Make prices transparent and give consumers more freedom to pursue health care value. Provide meaningful tools to help consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor's visit and how that total breaks down?

7.       Reform Medicare. Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and we need reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.

Whatever reforms are passed, it is essential that they be financially responsible, and give consumers the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health.