An electronic lifestyle is not a healthy lifestyle - but what people don't realise is that currently we have a "medicare card" (which is electronic).

Those who have been living a very unhealthy lifestyle for many years, can then have a terminal illness or medical matter that needs to be addressed, which costs ALL taxpayers thousands of dollars in prescription medications and/or medical treatment - or both.

How many want to pay for that? Yet we hear from so many people about increased taxes like the "GP levy"?

Prevention is better than cure - and if a "health care card" - is in place with the right setup - our country could be better off health wise.

Ok Nathan, firstly we have to determine who is and isn't living a "healthy" lifestyle. That will mean medically screening all adults in Australia, every 3 months at least to ensure they are still living healthy and thus not rorting the system. This screening will cost about 20 billion dollars over the next 20 years. Then we need a few more billion dollars in order to handle the hundreds of thousands of appeals and complaints of wrong diagnosis, as a lot of people have non lifestyle illnesses that resemble lifestyle illnesses. Also, we'll need an ombudsman (probably 3 or 4 of them, plus their large staff) to handle the complaints. Total cost? At least 25 billion dollars over 20 years.

Now, in order to pay for your idea I suggest we immediately take 10 billion dollars out of hospital beds, increase the proposed doctor co-payment to $50, make people pay the 'real' cost for medicines and charge all new medical students an upfront free of $50,000 to start their training.

So your new Health Care Card and all the associated bureaucracy and checks and balances will now be fully funded. What a great idea Nathan, I see you've really thought this through haven't you.

Dear Nathan,

<<but what people don't realise is that currently we have a "medicare card" (which is electronic).>>

I have one because it is required by law, but I would never take it with me and never disclose it. If I see a doctor or such, I refuse to give them the number and only pay in cash.

The question for me is - should our current medicare card have a simple "medical" focus or a higher focus on improving health" - or a mixture of both? When many visit a doctor it is because they are unwell or ill or for another usually medical based reason. Is this however sustainable, in terms of increasing health costs and with people potentially having to pay a GP levy?

At the present moment, there is too much focus on the medical elements of life and not the health based elements to address future medical matters. For example, I recently cooked a Brussel Sprout recipe with baby potatoes and a lemon, thyme and garlic dressing. No salt included.

A lot of people DO NOT eat Brussel Srouts at all, however when my parents tried this dish for the first time (as I cooked dinner for them) they said the dish was delicious - and easy to make.

So we need to break down the barriers re healthy eating and encourage more people to take it on. Also fresh fruit and vegetables are GST free. However when the GST came in - the sales tax on a lot of junk food went down from around 22% to 10% - making it a lot cheaper.

Definitely not healthy policy for the future - and to those advocating 'free on food' - you'll be paying for it later on - as will everyone else.

And still not one word from Nathan about the devastatingly huge cost of implementing and administering his plan. Says it all.

Surely NATHAN J. people's selection of food, whether healthy or not, is a matter of personal preference ? I agree with instructing your children the benefits of good wholesome foods, and the deleterious effect of cigarette smoking, and the risks of excessive consumption of alcohol. Other than that, I don't believe 'big brother' should in any way regulate or play any part in what we eat. Sorry ol' fella.