Health Care Alternative

In my Econ 1500 class I was required to read a book called The Undercover Economist. It is a very good book that basically teaches and gives examples of fundamental economics principles. One of those examples that I found most interesting was its description of an ideal health care system. It is a very appropriate topic especially for today with all of the changes that are being proposed for our current system. Our system has many problems including extremely high prices and lack of care for everyone. From an economical standpoint the example used in The Undercover Economist offers solutions to those problems.
The example used in the book is from Singapore where each person is required to put about $1500 in a high interest savings account that is specifically used for health care only. If there are individuals that cannot afford the full $1500 per year that is when the government can step in and help people afford health care that is effective and affordable. This type of system brings down the overall prices on health care since it will be something that all can pay for unlike the system we have now is set up so that the high prices pay for those who can't afford health care. Also one important aspect of this type of system is that the consumers still have the power to choose who provides their health care therefore maintaining competition and offering freedom to all in these types of decisions. Although now this kind of plan would be hared to implement in our country it is an interesting alternative that isn't ever discussed.