New Way to Care: Social Protections that Put Families First

by John C. Goodman

Overview

"John Goodman is a national treasure whose New Way to Care: Social Protections That Put Families First should be national policy. It is pragmatic, knowledgeable, and accessible. Read it and help to accomplish John's wise advice." —Regina E. Herzlinger, Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

The COVID-19 pandemic. The Great Recession. The dot-com bust. The early '90s recession. Every decade or so a disaster hits the United States and reminds us that many American families live one calamity away from financial ruin.

But what if there were a better way to help families protect themselves from life's risks? And what if that way did not further bloat large government bureaucracies and inflate even more their obscene budgets?

Fortunately, author, economist, policy entrepreneur, and Independent Institute Senior Fellow John C. Goodman, Ph.D., has forged just such a path.

In New Way to Care: Social Protections That Put Families First, Goodman offers a bold strategy for giving Americans more control over their destiny, while still promoting—at far less expense—the important social goals that gave rise to government safety-net programs in the first place.

Here are just a few of the life-risks to which Goodman—the "Father of Health Savings Accounts," according to the Wall Street Journal—presents solutions:

• Growing too old and outliving one's assets
• Dying too young and leaving dependent family members without resources
• Becoming disabled and facing financial catastrophe
• Suffering a major health event and being unable to afford needed medical care
• Becoming unemployed and finding no market for one's skills.

In New Way to Care, Goodman invites us to envision smartly crafted social protections that better serve the nation's families—and eliminate the risk that America's safety-net expenditures will drive the U.S. economy over a fiscal cliff. The debate in America over social insurance will never be the same.

"In New Way to Care, John Goodman is consistently ahead of his time with market solutions which align incentives that respect the agency of individuals while ensuring there is a social safety net. What he writes today will be policy in the coming years."
—Bill Cassidy, M.D., U. S. Senator

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598133196
Publisher:	Independent Institute, The
Publication date:	12/07/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	728,880
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John C. Goodman is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, President of the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research, and a regular guest on CNN, PBS, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, and CNBC. He also frequently writes for the Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, USA Today, Forbes, National Review, and Health Affairs. Frequently invited to testify before Congress on health-care reform, Dr. Goodman received his Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Introduction A New Approach to Public Policy 1

Section 1 A Better Way to Manage Life's Risks 11

1 The Case for Change 13

2 Balancing Individual and Societal Interests 23

3 Alternatives That Offer Individual Choice 33

4 Choice, Ownership, Responsibility 43

Section 2 Taking a Closer Look at the Risks 53

5 The Risk of Growing Too Old and Outliving One's Assets 55

6 The Risk of Dying Too Young and Leaving Dependent Family Members without Resources 101

7 The Risk of Becoming Disabled and Facing Financial Ruin 103

8 The Risk of Facing a Major Health Event and Being Unable to Afford Needed Medical Care 117

9 The Risk of Becoming Unemployed and Finding No Market for One's Skills 157

10 The Risk of Plagues, Pandemics, and Other Threats to Public Health 167

Section 3 Taking a Closer Look at Some Solutions 175

11 Addressing the Risks of Old Age 177

12 Opting Out of Survivor Insurance 223

13 Opting Out of Disability Insurance 225

14 Addressing the Risk of 111 Health 239

15 Opting Out of Unemployment Insurance 273

16 Combatting the Coronavirus 277

Conclusion Life under a Reformed System 287

Appendix 1 Ten Things You Need to Know about Medicare for All 293

Appendix 2 What Socialized Medicine Looks Like 303

Notes 309

Index 357

About the Author 371

Editorial Reviews

"John Goodman is an extraordinarily deep, knowledgeable, and original architect of American domestic policy. His book New Way to Care provides a compelling path out of our terrible social insurance policy morass. It is a must read for anyone. . .”
—Laurence J. Kotlikoff, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, Boston University


“Long one of the nation’s leading health policy experts, Goodman has a history of proposing the next big thing in market-based reforms. New Way to Care takes readers on a tour of federal entitlement programs in search for win-win policy changes that can leave everyone better off.”
—Mitchel E. Daniels Jr., President, Purdue University; former Governor of Indiana


“No one has worked longer and more effectively at creating a modern, people-oriented and affordable health system than John Goodman. He is an amazing pioneer and his book New Way to Care reflects his knowledge and his insights.”
—Newt Gingrich, former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives


“John Goodman is someone everyone should listen to when it comes to healthcare policy—with his book New Way to Care, the same can now be said for social insurance. . .While others propose more regulation to cure the ills caused by past regulations, Goodman proposes the types of market-based reforms that can make our social insurance system function better.”
—Kevin M. Murphy, George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago


“John Goodman is one of the most creative thinkers of our time in the complex world of health care policy. In his book New Way to Care, he puts forth important, thought-provoking ideas about the role of government in the personal lives of Americans. Read it!”
—Scott W. Atlas, M.D., Robert Wesson Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution


“In New Way to Care, John Goodman is consistently ahead of his time with market solutions which align incentives that respect the agency of individuals while ensuring there is a social safety net. What he writes today will be policy in the coming years.”
—Bill Cassidy, M.D., U.S. Senator

From the Publisher