OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. You might want to be seated before reading this.

Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!

/facepalm

I heard about his "healthcare plan" abuot two months ago and it made me cringe. He wants to tax the workers on their premiums by adding the cost of the healthcare plan on top of their pay if they let their employer provide healthcare coverage for them. But, if you go seek your own healthcare plan you will get tax vouchers/credits.

I already pay more than most of you b/c it is a federal law for me to have to pay the taxes on my premium b/c having my gf on my plan. It's whacky. I work for a healthcare organization and get very good healthcoverage why would I see coverage elsewhere? It's a crock of shit to force people to find something else or be taxed. And, b/c of my "unmarried" status I could wind up paying EVEN more than I do now.

My gross salary is inflated by some 5k a year b/c it looks like I've earned pay on something I did not. I hate the way our gov't penalizes couples who are not "married".I'm not sure if I'm saying this correctly but I think states it pretty clearly.


McCain’s general health care policy
Compared to Obama, McCain is generally against more government participation and regulation. Instead of moving the U.S. to larger risk pools (e.g., government insurance, employer insurance) that are more severely regulated, McCain wants to move the U.S. towards more individually provided health insurance. McCain’s main policy initiative is a $2,500 health insurance refundable tax credit for individuals ($5000 for families). The goal is to make health insurance more affordable, but make individuals incur the full cost of “better” health insurance at the margin. McCain is also considering risk-rating these vouchers so that individuals with severe health problems will receive a larger voucher. McCain would also allow individuals to buy health insurance from any state.



Hey the gov't can't police and regulate healthcare so let's just say screw it and let the people figure it out!