CHICAGO – Thirty-three state think tanks announced on Tuesday an alternative to President Barack Obama's health plan.

The proposal, adapted from a national study by public policy specialist Art Laffer, aims toward patient-centered  care and limiting growth of federal government in healthcare.

"President Obama and other supporters of government-run healthcare like to proclaim that there's no alternative to their plans," said John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, one of the 33 organizations. "Our patient-centered reform package offers a clear alternative that puts patients, not bureaucrats, first. It protects the doctor-patient relationship, offers viable solutions for the uninsured and keeps medical care affordable for all Americans."

According to Tillman, the state think tanks believe that expanding the role of government in the healthcare market is not the change that America needs. Congress should focus on a patient-centered approach to healthcare reform that respects the patient-doctor relationship and empowers the patient and the doctor to make effective and economical health policy choices.

The proposal includes:

• Beginning with individual ownership of insurance policies by giving the tax deduction that allows employers to own insurance to the individual instead;
• Leveraging health savings accounts (HSAs) to empower individuals to monitor their healthcare costs and create incentives for individuals to use only those services that are necessary;
• Allowing interstate purchasing of insurance so that consumers can choose which benefits they need and what prices they are willing to pay;
• Reducing the number of mandated benefits insurers are required to cover; 
• Reallocating the majority of Medicaid spending into vouchers for low-income individuals to purchase their own insurance, thereby eliminating much of the bureaucracy and costs associated with running Medicaid;
• Eliminating unnecessary scope-of-practice laws and allowing non-physician healthcare professionals to practice to the extent of their education and training to safely increase the provider pool;
• Reforming tort liability laws to prevent the defensive practice of medicine that drives up medical costs and creates an adversarial relationship between doctors and patients.

Some of the think tanks that participated in the proposal include those from Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee and Mississippi.