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Obama on Health Care
Sep. 19th, 2008 02:56 pmArgh, it be International Talk Like A Pirate Day, but worry not me maties, I'll not be doing Obama-care pirate-style.
McCain-Care
McCain's plan is really simple. He eliminates the tax-deductible nature of employer-provided health care, and gives you the taxpayer a $2500 credit (single) or $5000 credit (family) to go buy your own. This creates two obvious problems:
1) There is no incentive for your employer to pay for coverage, so if you've got it, kiss it goodbye.
2) The credit isn't nearly enough. In my case, the $2500 credit covers only 57% of my group policy. Getting individual insurance would be even more expensive. The average cost of a family policy, $12,000 (again for a group policy) means only 41% is covered. You are out of pocket for the rest of the coverage, plus any co-pays or other charges
Bottom line - if McCain's is President and this plan is implemented, kiss your tax cut from him goodbye - it will be eaten up and to spare by your health care bill.
Obama-care
Obama's plan is rather more complicated. As I break it down, there are several key factors.
1) If you have employer-provided health care, keep it with no change.
2) If you don't have health care, you can buy it by joining the same pool as Federal employees.
3) If your business doesn't provide "meaningful" coverage, they will either be required to contribute a percentage of payroll to the national plan or, for small business, get a "tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees."
Please note that this is not "socialized medicine." The government does not control hospitals, doctors or insurance companies. It adds incentives and means to increase coverage. Nor are you required to buy health care.
Common Points
Both plans spend a lot of time discussing how to reduce costs. What Obama adds that McCain doesn't is:
* Stop paying providers based on the volume of services provided. Instead, pay based on the quality or effectiveness of care.
* Promote new models for addressing errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and reducing the need for malpractice suits.
McCain-Care
McCain's plan is really simple. He eliminates the tax-deductible nature of employer-provided health care, and gives you the taxpayer a $2500 credit (single) or $5000 credit (family) to go buy your own. This creates two obvious problems:
1) There is no incentive for your employer to pay for coverage, so if you've got it, kiss it goodbye.
2) The credit isn't nearly enough. In my case, the $2500 credit covers only 57% of my group policy. Getting individual insurance would be even more expensive. The average cost of a family policy, $12,000 (again for a group policy) means only 41% is covered. You are out of pocket for the rest of the coverage, plus any co-pays or other charges
Bottom line - if McCain's is President and this plan is implemented, kiss your tax cut from him goodbye - it will be eaten up and to spare by your health care bill.
Obama-care
Obama's plan is rather more complicated. As I break it down, there are several key factors.
1) If you have employer-provided health care, keep it with no change.
2) If you don't have health care, you can buy it by joining the same pool as Federal employees.
3) If your business doesn't provide "meaningful" coverage, they will either be required to contribute a percentage of payroll to the national plan or, for small business, get a "tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees."
Please note that this is not "socialized medicine." The government does not control hospitals, doctors or insurance companies. It adds incentives and means to increase coverage. Nor are you required to buy health care.
Common Points
Both plans spend a lot of time discussing how to reduce costs. What Obama adds that McCain doesn't is:
* Stop paying providers based on the volume of services provided. Instead, pay based on the quality or effectiveness of care.
* Promote new models for addressing errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and reducing the need for malpractice suits.
