McCain's Health Care Plan is dangerous.
Many people who support McCain at this point do not realize or do not care that McCain's health care plan is disastrous to say the least. Some of these people can afford the private Health Care so they wouldn't care. Some think they're healthy enough not to care about it. And some are just voting against their best interest due to their political or societal (or, perhaps, racial) beliefs.
Here's a pretty good New York Times article about why McCain's plan is so dangerous by Paul Krugman. I am going to post some excerpts from it but i suggest everyone reads it in its entirety. it's not very long.
Mr. McCain, on the other hand, wants to blow up the current system, by eliminating the tax break for employer-provided insurance. And he doesn’t offer a workable alternative.
Without the tax break, many employers would drop their current health plans. Several recent nonpartisan studies estimate that under the McCain plan around 20 million Americans currently covered by their employers would lose their health insurance.
As compensation, the McCain plan would give people a tax credit - $2,500 for an individual, $5,000 for a family - that could be used to buy health insurance in the individual market. At the same time, Mr. McCain would deregulate insurance, leaving insurance companies free to deny coverage to those with health problems - and his proposal for a “high-risk pool” for hard cases would provide little help.
- and -
the people gaining insurance would be those who need it least: relatively healthy Americans with high incomes. Why? Because insurance companies want to cover only healthy people, and even among the healthy only those able to pay a lot in addition to their tax credit would be able to afford coverage (remember, it’s a $5,000 credit, but the average family policy actually costs more than $12,000).
Meanwhile, the people losing insurance would be those who need it most: lower-income workers who wouldn’t be able to afford individual insurance even with the tax credit, and Americans with health problems whom insurance companies won’t cover.
And in the process of comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted, the McCain plan would also lead to a huge, expensive increase in bureaucracy: insurers selling individual health plans spend 29 percent of the premiums they receive on administration, largely because they employ so many people to screen applicants. This compares with costs of 12 percent for group plans and just 3 percent for Medicare.
As you can see, McCain's plan favors those who can afford private insurance and eviscerates those who need it the most - those who have health problems or can not afford health care on their own.
Also, it is a wonderful illustration to show how much we're paying for the administrative expenses all the private insurers incur. And what this article does not address is the advertisement costs and the redundant data processing costs for these companies that ultimately come out of our pockets. When was the last time time you saw advertisement for Medicare? :) And you can rest assured, they have a single (and very powerful) computer system that maintains every doctor and every patient no matter where the patients or doctors are located...
Now to a more pleasant subject - the polls. over the last week Obama's lead seemed to have cemented. More people are realizing the danger to the economy McCain presidentcy (aka Bush Third term) presents. Also, what disturbs people even more is the buttom half of that ticket. Despite GOP putting on a brave face and deceiving themselves about Sarah Palin's "performance" at the Veep debate, it was clear that Biden had easily won the debate. He seemed to have first-hand knowledge of the facts, control of the issues and refused to get down and dirty with his opponent. Palin had actually refused to answer several questions and most people see through that "rural charm" and "folksy" attitude.
So, now, the polls are looking more and more to be "predicting" (if that term can be so used) Obama's victory next month. RealClearPolitics.com average value is Obama +5.9%. His current lead in Electoral College Predictions is from 101 to 168 electoral votes.
it is harder and harder for GOP supporters to find solace and that is making me feeling that much better :)
Here's a pretty good New York Times article about why McCain's plan is so dangerous by Paul Krugman. I am going to post some excerpts from it but i suggest everyone reads it in its entirety. it's not very long.
Mr. McCain, on the other hand, wants to blow up the current system, by eliminating the tax break for employer-provided insurance. And he doesn’t offer a workable alternative.
Without the tax break, many employers would drop their current health plans. Several recent nonpartisan studies estimate that under the McCain plan around 20 million Americans currently covered by their employers would lose their health insurance.
As compensation, the McCain plan would give people a tax credit - $2,500 for an individual, $5,000 for a family - that could be used to buy health insurance in the individual market. At the same time, Mr. McCain would deregulate insurance, leaving insurance companies free to deny coverage to those with health problems - and his proposal for a “high-risk pool” for hard cases would provide little help.
- and -
the people gaining insurance would be those who need it least: relatively healthy Americans with high incomes. Why? Because insurance companies want to cover only healthy people, and even among the healthy only those able to pay a lot in addition to their tax credit would be able to afford coverage (remember, it’s a $5,000 credit, but the average family policy actually costs more than $12,000).
Meanwhile, the people losing insurance would be those who need it most: lower-income workers who wouldn’t be able to afford individual insurance even with the tax credit, and Americans with health problems whom insurance companies won’t cover.
And in the process of comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted, the McCain plan would also lead to a huge, expensive increase in bureaucracy: insurers selling individual health plans spend 29 percent of the premiums they receive on administration, largely because they employ so many people to screen applicants. This compares with costs of 12 percent for group plans and just 3 percent for Medicare.
As you can see, McCain's plan favors those who can afford private insurance and eviscerates those who need it the most - those who have health problems or can not afford health care on their own.
Also, it is a wonderful illustration to show how much we're paying for the administrative expenses all the private insurers incur. And what this article does not address is the advertisement costs and the redundant data processing costs for these companies that ultimately come out of our pockets. When was the last time time you saw advertisement for Medicare? :) And you can rest assured, they have a single (and very powerful) computer system that maintains every doctor and every patient no matter where the patients or doctors are located...
Now to a more pleasant subject - the polls. over the last week Obama's lead seemed to have cemented. More people are realizing the danger to the economy McCain presidentcy (aka Bush Third term) presents. Also, what disturbs people even more is the buttom half of that ticket. Despite GOP putting on a brave face and deceiving themselves about Sarah Palin's "performance" at the Veep debate, it was clear that Biden had easily won the debate. He seemed to have first-hand knowledge of the facts, control of the issues and refused to get down and dirty with his opponent. Palin had actually refused to answer several questions and most people see through that "rural charm" and "folksy" attitude.
So, now, the polls are looking more and more to be "predicting" (if that term can be so used) Obama's victory next month. RealClearPolitics.com average value is Obama +5.9%. His current lead in Electoral College Predictions is from 101 to 168 electoral votes.
it is harder and harder for GOP supporters to find solace and that is making me feeling that much better :)