PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

If I was in charge of federal care reform – never fear, I won’t be assigned that unenviable task, nor would I take it – there is one foundation plank that would be in my platform.

Using the example of car insurance, it is this: You have to have coverage. If you don’t and have a “health care accident,” you would pay a penalty, just as you do with car insurance.

It’s a simple concept really, but, of course, the devil would be in the details in such areas as what happens to people who are so poor they cannot buy health insurance. No doubt there would have to be subsidies.

Also, how do you handle such issues as a ban on not covering pre-existing conditions? One key there would to make sure everyone had coverage, so the entire pool would be supporting insurance for all, which is a key spread-the-risk tenet for insurance generally.

Those who designed ObamaCare, only Democrats, faced those same questions and, by all accounts, did a bad job of providing answers. So much so that there is an emerging consensus that ObamaCare must be replaced with something smarter. Not repeal. Replaced.

It appears that even President-Elect Donald Trump – that title, by the way, does not fall easily off the lips – gets it. When he met with President Obama shortly after his stunning win, he came away, he said, with a belief that at least two ObamaCare concepts ought to be retained – a ban on insurers not covering pre-existing conditions and allowing “children” to remain on their parents coverage until age 26.

As for the “you have to have it mandate,” there was no talk about it early on in the Trump Transition, perhaps because, as its base, government mandates are anathema to Republicans, now in charge of the White House, as well as both houses of Congress.

Before the national elections, Republicans got a head start on various policy issues for consideration if they remained in charge of Congress in the nation’s Capitol. They called it “A Better Way.” Here is a summary of four key principles in the health care section:

More choices and lower costs.

• Our plan gives you more control and more choices so that you can pick the plan that meets your needs—not Washington’s mandates.

Real protections and peace of mind.

• Our plan makes sure that you never have to worry about being turned away or having your coverage taken away—regardless of age, income, medical conditions, or circumstances.

Cutting-edge cures and treatments.

• Our plan clears out the bureaucracy to accelerate the development of life-saving devices and therapies.

A stronger Medicare.

• Our plan protects Medicare for today’s seniors and preserves the program for future generations.

To be sure, these are just words on paper so far. They need to be fleshed into real concepts that have the potential to pass muster in Congress, as well as with the American people.

As I followed the recent election campaigns, a comment I heard a lot was that, if America is one of the leading nations in the free world, then it should be able to design a health care coverage program that works well for its citizens.