McCain’s Health Care Plan is Bad News
In my continued effort to be as non-partisan as possible, I would like to highlight what I see as one of the major flaws in McCain’s policies toward health care.
Basically McCain advocates taxing employer contributions to health insurance, which would, in effect, make it a whole lot less likely for employers to even offer health care in the first place. Seeing as how we are most of us covered by employer health care, I find this idea just utterly wrong-headed. There would have to be a major shift in insurance costs and policies for us to be able to buy it ourselves on the rather crappy allowance McCain suggests of $2500 per individual and $5000 per family. I know it’s more expensive than that.
I’m insured through my company, so this scares me immensely. Losing my insurance and having to find private insurance is simply not economically viable for me and my family.
The Washington Post states that:
Because McCain would create a new tax break and not completely get rid of the existing tax breaks, his plan would cost $1.3 trillion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The center predicts it would only cover about 5 million new people with insurance at its peak.
By contrast, the center predicts Obama’s plan would cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years but eventually get insurance to an additional 34 million people.
So there’s one more bad idea from the McCain camp. If I had a dollar for every bad idea from both campaigns then I could afford my own health care.
You know, E.D., I never thought I’d hear myself say it — but I think national health care might be the way to go.
I gave birth to my Maggie in England, and the care was top-notch. As was ongoing maintenance care for various things. Sure, if I needed a knee replacement, or chemotherapy, I might have to wait, on the national plan. But the wait is not what we have been given to believe. Deaths due to waiting have been greatly exaggerated. Plus, there’s always the option to go private. Expensive, yes — but I’ve been witness to, and active participant in, fundraising efforts to help with medical costs right here in the U.S., for people who need it and can’t afford it.
The thing to realize here is these situations are relatively rare, given the population as a whole.
What the deranged left — and unrepentant capitalists — don’t want to grasp is that yes, quality health care IS a human right — but it doesn’t have to infringe ON human rights. Nor impose yet more government on individuals. There IS a middle way.
I think it’s time for us to try nationalized health care, with, yes, taxes to pay for same — but with market-force, and common-sense regulation, controls in place. I see nationalized health care as dealing only with basic, and common, complaints. Specialization would be private — and there, I think, market would drive cost. Any specialist not driven by greed would earn a good living. Therefore, specialists who charge out-of-possibility fees would find themselves marginalized.
The reality is employers can’t afford health insurance, anymore. It’s like the choice of the poor elderly — do I eat, or do I keep myself warm?
As I said — I never thought I’d hear myself advocate standardized health care. But then — we are heading into uncharted waters, these days.
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