When I wrote favorably about the idea of universal catastrophic insurance a number of commenters wrote in talking about the inadequacies of catastrophic coverage plans. I don’t really disagree — a good insurance system should give people free preventive care and make provision to ensure the affordability of routine care, as well as covering people against catastrophic losses. That said, we’re talking about a policy status quo in which many people have no insurance at all and many people find that the premiums they pay for comprehensive insurance really stretch the family budget. Under the circumstances, a moving to a system in which catastrophic insurance was provided universally would be a big step forward.
At any rate, this proposal isn’t on the table legislatively so I don’t see the point in discussing it in great detail. But all I was trying to say about it is that the current US healthcare system is sufficiently inadequate that there are a large quantity of incremental changes that would be beneficial. Naturally one virtue of a comprehensive reform package is that it incorporates a great many of these ideas.