Health Insurance Ad A Powerful Campaign Tool For Obama
Among the dozens of campaign ads aired during the presidential campaign, Barack Obama's spot about the risks of John McCain's health insurance plan has been singularly effective.
Here is a link to the ad.
Its direct quote from McCain's website about how his plan works - - by sending insurance companies your $5,000 McCain health care tax credit check - - is devastating.
As is labeling the plan's outcome "the McCain health insurance tax" because you would, for the first tie, have to pay income taxes on your employer-provided health care benefits to fund the plan.
I think that's a fair turn of a phrase, especially because McCain has been leaving the taxation element out of his plan's descriptions.
And here is a link to an explanation about the issue by economist Paul Krugman.
As Krugman points out, McCain has said he would deregulate the health care markets the way the banking industry had been unchained.
Yipes.
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2 comments:
In all fairness to McCain, some Health Care economists claim that while we are likely to lose 20 million insured from company plans, they believe that 21 million might get coverage under the system McCain proposes. While I point this out, I do not agree. It is dubious to say this will be a wash, because McCain wants people to be able to cross state lines and buy plans that might be better and cheaper elsewhere. The problem is, if that were allowed, the cheap plans will quickly get expensive as they have to cover the more expensive health care of people in more costly urban areas. I think McCain has a poor and ineffctive plan, as has been every plan advanced by Republicans looking to keep the industry deregulated, when it really needs to move the way of a more regulated environment, such as the various utility industries. Even though utilities have seen some deregulation lately, they still face many regulations compared to other industries. Health care is another national resource and right of every American that will require similar government intervention, like it or not.
The McCain plan is a beefed up HSA, which benefits upper-income people generally, and the insurers and providers because it's a guaranteed stream of income.
No cost controls, just more of this 'free' market withcraft.
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