McWorse on Health Care
Many are calling John McCain McSame meaning that his presidency would be 4 more years of Bush. It may actually be worse, particularly when it comes to health care. Not only is McCain against any new health care plan for this country, he doesn't even want those of us who are fortunate enough to have employer based health care to keep it.
His big idea is to eliminate the tax exemption on employer-provided insurance in exchange for a $2,500 annual tax credit to individuals, and $5,000 to families, for investment in a health care account purchase their own coverage. States would be encouraged to create high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions. Corporations and the financial media are gushing over the plan because it takes the entire health care burden off of employers. They don't care any more than McCain or Mark Kirk that the tax credits will be inadequate to pay for the increased burden on employees. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premium cost for the most popular employer-based family plan was $11,765 last year. Also, we must not forget that a tax credit is only as good as a person's tax burden. It's not going to do anything for the low paid and unemployed.
As for the state high-risk pools Robert Reich points out that many states already have such pools, but the premiums and co-payments are so high that few can afford them.
This is not a health care plan, it's giving up on health care in this country completely. Then, it gets worse because McCain also wants to abolish existing state regulations that require companies to insure people with pre-existing conditions, provide benefits that don’t exclude certain specified medical conditions, and prevent them from charging huge premiums for insufficient benefits. Check out this list of state mandated coverages that will be lost. In Illinois, this list includes cancer medications, breast reconstruction, diabetes self-management and supplies, emergency services, mamograms, mastectomy and maternity hospital stays, ovarian cancer screening and more.
McCain calls this cost reduction and choice, but in reality it's a device to eliminate the growing partnership between employers and employees calling on our government to create a real American health care system with employees getting the raw end of that deal as employers happily eliminate health plans as employees are left with nothing. It's also a device to create a new government subsidized pool of investment funds for Wall Street as people will have to invest these tax credits and hope they grow into enough cash (and praying they don't lose it) to pay for the individual health care plans. Also, notice how CEO compensation in the health care industry is not addressed as a cost issue.
I call McCain's health care plan Food Stamps in the Caviar Store which reminds me, when will Mark Kirk, who again recently voted against increased funding for food stamps, take the food stamp challenge and eat on $21 per week.
His big idea is to eliminate the tax exemption on employer-provided insurance in exchange for a $2,500 annual tax credit to individuals, and $5,000 to families, for investment in a health care account purchase their own coverage. States would be encouraged to create high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions. Corporations and the financial media are gushing over the plan because it takes the entire health care burden off of employers. They don't care any more than McCain or Mark Kirk that the tax credits will be inadequate to pay for the increased burden on employees. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premium cost for the most popular employer-based family plan was $11,765 last year. Also, we must not forget that a tax credit is only as good as a person's tax burden. It's not going to do anything for the low paid and unemployed.
As for the state high-risk pools Robert Reich points out that many states already have such pools, but the premiums and co-payments are so high that few can afford them.
This is not a health care plan, it's giving up on health care in this country completely. Then, it gets worse because McCain also wants to abolish existing state regulations that require companies to insure people with pre-existing conditions, provide benefits that don’t exclude certain specified medical conditions, and prevent them from charging huge premiums for insufficient benefits. Check out this list of state mandated coverages that will be lost. In Illinois, this list includes cancer medications, breast reconstruction, diabetes self-management and supplies, emergency services, mamograms, mastectomy and maternity hospital stays, ovarian cancer screening and more.
McCain calls this cost reduction and choice, but in reality it's a device to eliminate the growing partnership between employers and employees calling on our government to create a real American health care system with employees getting the raw end of that deal as employers happily eliminate health plans as employees are left with nothing. It's also a device to create a new government subsidized pool of investment funds for Wall Street as people will have to invest these tax credits and hope they grow into enough cash (and praying they don't lose it) to pay for the individual health care plans. Also, notice how CEO compensation in the health care industry is not addressed as a cost issue.
I call McCain's health care plan Food Stamps in the Caviar Store which reminds me, when will Mark Kirk, who again recently voted against increased funding for food stamps, take the food stamp challenge and eat on $21 per week.
posted by Ellen Beth at
5/18/2008 12:01:00 AM
2 Comments:
McCain is so out of touch with the average American. He and Bush can't vision what the average person goes thru in a day. Working for a corporation that could not care less about their employees. Worried whether they will have a job tomorrow,can feed, house and clothe their families. These are very frightning times!!
By
Anonymous, at Sunday, May 18, 2008 8:55:00 AM
The business press lauds McCain's health care plan as the most doable. Sure it's doable to tell employers they are out of the benefits business. They'll love it. What these same business papers fail to go on to discuss are the consequences to the employees who will be faced with huge premiums (demand for individual plans will be going up and probably increasing the price), limited coverages as states will not be allowed to mandate that the hospital cannot kick you out the day of your child's birth or your cancer operation, or being uninsured. I don't think McCain and Kirk will be happy until there are bodies on the streets.
By
Ellen Beth, at Sunday, May 18, 2008 9:10:00 AM
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