There’s been some interesting health care proposals being suggested this week.

First of all, the poverty candidate John Edwards unveiled a $120B healthcare plan that makes preventive visits to physicians mandatory for all citizens:

“It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care. If you are going to be in the system, you can’t choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK.”

Across the ocean, it’s been a busy health care week in the UK. The Tories have proposed a healthcare plan that provides carrot and stick incentives for healthy living. If you lose weight, give up smoking, or get your immunizations, you score “points” that are redeemable for gym discounts, fruits/vegetables at the grocery store, and even a priority for social services. If you are obese, a smoker, or a binge drinker, you may be denied free care from the NHS. From the Daily Mail article:

But heavy smokers, the obese and binge drinkers who were a drain on the NHS could be denied some routine treatments such as hip replacements until they cleaned up their act. Those who abused the system - by calling an ambulance when a trip to the GP would be sufficient, or telephoning out of hours with needless queries - could also be penalised. The report calls for a greater emphasis on the “citizen’s responsibility” to be healthy and says no one should expect taxpayers to fund their unhealthy lifestyles.

And since we’ve been blogging about healthcare as America’s potential new source of soft power, how fitting it is that Germany and the UK today launched a plan to improve developing countries’ healthcare. Read the Guardian article where UK’s Prime Minister is quoted as saying:

There is no greater cause than that every man, woman and child in the world should be able to benefit from the best medicine and healthcare. And our vision today is that we can triumph over ancient scourges and for the first time in history conquer polio, TB, measles and then, with further advances and initiatives, go on to address pneumoccal pneumonia, malaria and eventually HIV/Aids.”

Germany, Britain, Norway, and Canada will all be donors to the program, working in conjunction with the World Bank and the WHO. (where is the U.S.?)

Last but not least, Forbes has begun a new “Solutions: Health Care” series, starting with commentary from Steve Case:

Some say health care will never change because the industry is too large, too entrenched and too complex to change–and they say consumers will never take the time to be more proactive about their health. But I’m reminded of what people used to say when I started AOL. Most thought we were crazy to think consumers would want interactivity and a new medium could be created. It took a long time, but eventually that happened. I truly believe people will be more responsible for managing (and improving) their health–they just need to be empowered and given tools to make better choices.