Today's Austin American-Statesman reprinted a New York Times column by David Brooks on health care reform, which column in turn drew on an article by Jason Bordoff in Democracy. Both articles present interesting ideas that are integral to the national debate on health care reform that is just launching.

The articles are particularly useful discussion tools because they examine the broader idea of social contracts, rather than dwelling on details of the current American health insurance system. Both articles discuss a recently introduced health care reform model proposed by Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation. Butler's proposal is likely to receive significant attention in the health care reform debate.

Abstract of Stuart Butler's proposal:

For most working-age families, health insurance coverage is directly connected to the workplace. But because of structural weaknesses in this traditional form of coverage, it is steadily eroding, especially for workers in the small business sector. The health insurance system needs to evolve along a different path if it is to adapt to the goals and needs of today’s workforce. Unfortunately, existing laws and insurance arrangements obstruct that evolution. Three key steps are needed to achieve a gradual transformation without disrupting the successful parts of the system. First, states should establish “insurance exchanges.” Exchanges would offer an array of coverage options, and families could retain their chosen plan from workplace to workplace with the same tax benefits as those available for traditional employer-sponsored plans. Second, most employers should become facilitators, rather than sponsors, of coverage. While many large employers would continue to sponsor coverage, most employers would hand over sponsorship to an insurance exchange and focus on providing administrative support for their employees’ insurance choices. Third, the federal government should reform the tax treatment of health to focus help on lower-income families.

Evolving Beyond Traditional Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance by Stuart Butler

The New Social Contract by David Brooks

Broken Contract by Jason Bordoff