McCain Policy: Health Care

2008 Presidential Candidate Platform Discussion

John McCain is willing to address the fundamental problem: the rapidly rising cost of U.S. health care. Bringing costs under control is the only way to stop the erosion of affordable health insurance, save Medicare and Medicaid, protect private health benefits for retirees, and allow our companies to effectively compete around the world.

www.johnmccain.com...


Presented for critical discussion and analysis by ATS members under the spirit of the new guidelines announced in This Thread.

Everybody needs to understand that McCain's plan is disasterous for the middle class. Individuals won't get group rates from providers so no kind of tax vouchers will help. There is already competition among the insurers and that doesn't help, so none of McCains recipes can really change anything except make life more painful for most of us.

As with many of McCain's plans, the lower and middle class Americans are forgotten or put on their own. Why should he be concerned with people's health care when his and his friends' plans are just fine?

McCain's plan gives people "choices" and tax credits but then shoves them out the door so they can be on their own. Problem is, his tax credit doesn't even cover half of a person's normal medical expenses.

An excellent critical piece on McCain's Health Care Plan:

McCain's Plan Improves Corporate America's Bottom Line

But McCain's plan is designed to improve the health of corporate America's bottom line at the expense of working individuals and families. The goal is to shift the burden of an incredibly overpriced and inefficient health care system from employers and the government onto the backs of working people themselves -- to have them carry the load while doing very little to lighten it.

It's a continuation of the kind of compassionate conservatism that political scientist Jacob Hacker has dubbed "The Great Risk Shift." Hacker defines it simply as "the growing transfer of economic risks and responsibilities from employers and governments onto workers and their families."

With McCain's health care plan we will have choices though.....

Like deciding which insurance we can't afford!

OR

Just not the reproductive kind!

I could go on all day....

I think Sen. McCain knowledge of the reality of people needs for healthcare can compare to his knowledge about the economy. Our healthcare system is broken and needs a comprehensive approach in order to get fixed on its entirety, not a couple of patches here and there in the hopes that the free market would fix it, if the free market hasn’t fix it in the past 15 years why the free market id going to fix it now?

When Senator John McCain unveiled his healthcare proposal last fall, a journalist asked whether the Arizona senator's battle against skin cancer would make him sympathetic to the idea of requiring that insurance companies provide coverage to people with preexisting conditions.

McCain flatly rejected the idea. "That would be mandating what the free enterprise system does," McCain said.

These are the same free enterprises that have increase our health care cost to the point that many Americans can’t afford health insurance, health services, their prescription drugs.

McCain, for example, has spoken in general terms about how he might help people with preexisting conditions. He has said he favors what he calls a "special provision including additional trust funds for Medicaid payments." The comment left even some of his aides unsure of his meaning. Medicaid funds are generally used to help lower-income Americans

So again you can see that he really has no idea of what he is talking about, he don’t even know what Medicaid is for!

Indeed, while McCain talks about having a comprehensive healthcare plan, many of the details are being debated within the campaign as aides try to determine how to pay for McCain's promises

This is where is all boils down to with McCain plans, lots of words but no clue how is going to pay for it, he is talking about more tax cuts for the rich and corporation, so who is going to get hammer here, the middle class AGAIN?

But McCain's plan has no guarantee that people could get insurance, and no requirement for people to do so. McCain believes his plan would make insurance more affordable, which would bring it within reach of many more families. But many critics say that failing to require insurance companies to provide coverage could leave millions of people without affordable medical care.

His healthcare like his economic plan is base on assumptions that if HE DOES THIS, THAT MIGHT HAPPEN, once again leaving it in the hands of corporations for which he plans to cut taxes, to lower their premiums with no regulation to do so and basically no clear plan as to how people are going to get insured.

McCain responded that the idea of imposing mandates on insurance companies was a simple answer, but one that he was not sure would be effective. McCain then spoke of the need for Americans to improve their physical condition and suggested some people with preexisting conditions could be put in what he called "high-risk pools." But McCain's bottom line was that he would not put requirements on insurance companies.

And then they criticize Sen. Obama for saying that people should make sure that the tire pressure on their car be at the right level in order to save gas. McCain says that people need to improve their physical condition so they don’t get sick and diminish their need for health insurance. Nothing better than to do a couple of jumping jacks a day and that would save you from any accident or unexpected situation that could lead you to require medical care. This is just laughable.

"The problem with McCain's approach - and it is a huge problem - is that McCain ventures so far toward total laissez-faire liberty that he risks leaving the poor and sick behind," the magazine said. "Anyone with cancer, diabetes, or other preexisting conditions will see their premiums multiply, too."

Again it leaves it to the free enterprises to decide who they cover or not and at what price. Yeah like these companies would want to exercise their social responsibility and all of the sudden lower their premiums and give coverage to those who really need it.

But the amount of the credit hasn't been determined, the possibility of extracting enough savings from Medicaid is debatable, and it is unclear whether a credit would be enough to persuade an insurance company to accept a person who would be likely to have large medical expenses.

Again it leaves it to the free enterprises to decide who they cover or not and at what price, this companies just worry about their balance sheet, what company is going to risk to provide care for people for preexisting conditions?.

McCain has frequently sought to downplay the oft-cited statistic that 47 million people do not have health insurance. He has said that a very large portion of them are healthy young Americans who simply choose not to get insurance. However, the American Medical Association has said that 8.3 million of the 47 million are between ages 18 and 24. A McCain aide said the senator was referring to a study that found about half of adults without health insurance are between 19 and 34. Democratic critics said that many younger Americans don't have health insurance because they can't afford it and their employers don't provide it.

Again it shows you the lack of knowledge that Sen. McCain has on the issue, talking about being out of touch with the needs of the average American, the regular folk.

McCain compared health insurance to buying a home, saying it was desirable but not required. "I think that one of our goals should be that every American own their own home," he said. "But I'm not going to mandate that every American own their home. If it's affordable and available, then it seems to be that it's a matter of choice amongst Americans."

www.boston.com...

How can you compare owning a home, to having access to health insurance. There are many people that choose to rent instead of own for many reason and many people to choose to buy instead of rent for many reason too, but I tell you what all of us would need throughout our lifetime, HEALTH CARE!. This comment just goes to show you how really out of touch is Sen. McCain with the reality of the regular American. The regular folk that has to decide between:

-Health care or paying a mortgage

-Health care or utility bill

-Wait to take my kid or myself to the hospital because I don’t have insurance and I am afraid of the bill, and then later results in a death that could have been treated and a life saved.

-The elderly that have to decide what prescriptions to buy this time of if any at all because they have to decide between drugs or groceries.

McCain suggests that we junk all that. Say you're earning $100,000 a year and your company provides about $9,000 toward your $12,000 family premium, which is about average. Today you're taxed only on the $100,000. Under McCain's plan, you'd also pay on the $9,000. That could mean an extra $3,000 or so in federal taxes alone. To compensate for the extra levy, McCain would provide a $2,500 federal tax rebate for individuals and $5,000 per family, meaning a family would simply subtract $5,000 from its tax bill, the equivalent of a big cash payment.

This FORTUNE article praises Sen.McCain healthcare plan but on what grounds? How many people make 100,000 a year?

From the same article

"For his plan to work, McCain has to tell us how he would deal with the old and sick," says Jon Gruber, an MIT economist. "If McCain doesn't tax the healthy to pay for pre-existing conditions, as happens under community rating, he has to tax the taxpayer. That means his plan will require huge subsidies he's not talking about."

money.cnn.com...

Once again the question is, who is going to have access to healthcare?

In the July 23 update of its analysis, TPC added a preliminary estimate of the candidates’ health care proposals. Because the campaigns did not provide complete plans, TPC assumed certain details. We conclude that the McCain plan, which would replace the current exclusion for employer-paid premiums with a refundable income tax credit of up to $5000 for anyone purchasing of health insurance and make other changes to the healthcare system, would increase the deficit by $1.3 trillion over 10 years and modestly trim the number of uninsured. The Obama plan, which would make relatively low-cost insurance available to everyone through non-group pools and subsidize premiums for low- and moderate-income households, would cost $1.6 trillion, but would also cover virtually all children and many currently uninsured adults.

TPC projects the McCain plan would trim the uninsured by 1 million in 2009 and nearly 5 million by 2013, although their numbers would slowly rise thereafter because the tax credit would fail to keep pace with premiums (see figure). Obama would reduce the uninsured by 18 million in 2009 and 34 million by 2018. Even under the Obama plan, however, 34 million Americans would still lack insurance in 2018.

www.taxpolicycenter.org...

This study highlights that both plans are not perfect BUT when it comes to give health care to those who need it the most, Sen. Obama’s plan take us in the right direction. And that’s what we should be looking now when it comes to healthcare, who is going to take us in the right direction? No candidate is going to fix it in 4 or perhaps 8 years a system that has been broken for more than a decade, but who is going to right the ship?

Sen. McCain plans leaves it all in the hand of the free market and corporation, how’s that can be called CHANGE?

reply to post by Bunch

For someone who has nothing to say, you sure say a lot. The rising cost, the uninsured, are not the problem. Just like the election to vote for a NWO Communist Democrat, or a NWO Socialist Republican. Their man A, or their man B. The problem with the medical, is that it has become a drug dealer party. There are incredible things being discovered right now, and many ways to cure virtually any illness. But if not patentable so they can profit from it, they hide it. They want to charge exhorbitant prices for either natural, or synthetic. But they can't. I am rarely sick. I don't like to do drugs, be they sanctioned or not. IMHO they are all inferior. If the doctors were actually in business to cure or prevent illness, we would not have this problem. Period.

There is a big problem with McCain's health care proposal that hasn't been pointed out yet.

www.nytimes.com...

To end the disadvantage to those who do not buy insurance through employers, Mr. McCain proposes to eliminate the exclusion of health benefits from taxable income. In exchange, he would provide refundable tax credits of $2,500 to single people and of $5,000 to families, with the goal of stoking competition in the individual insurance market. The elimination of the exclusion would generate $3.6 trillion over 10 years, according to the McCain campaign, and that money would pay for the tax credits.

Believe me, it hurts for me to have to quote the NY Times, as a source, but I have,in the spirit of fair and balanced reporting. LOL! I am certainly not happy about this provision.

He wants to deregulate the health care system like the banking system was. He's a fundamental deregulator.

McCain on banking and health


McCain pdf

Neither plan is going to resolve this issue. Neither plans tackles the rising cost of medical technology, the cost of salary and fringe benefits, and the rising cost of unnecessary treatment. All of this is necessary in order to control premiums.

I agree with that. I'm a retired senior with employer-assisted medical insurance, not yet eligible for Medicare, and my wife is not yet eligible for Medicare. Our portion of the medical insurance is over $850.00 per month, which is 55% of our retirement income. With this McCain provision, we'll be paying taxes on the $7,000 that a previous employer kicks in, above and beyond the $10,200 we pay a year, out of our pockets.
I still feel I have to vote for McCain-Palin, because Obama has as many hidden taxes as the McCain plan. In addition, although we're only luke-warm about McCain, both my wife and I are thrilled with Palin. It will be great to have a normal, middle class person, with a family of 5, in the White House. She's the only one of the four running that has a clue concerning what the middle class goes through.

But what's wrong with these guys, neither McCain (of course not this one) nor Obama (trying harder but still...) will cover everyone in the country. Is it that hard to think a solution that covers anyone, universal health care, goddamned, in Western Europe any country has it, it's like garlic soup, it's been invented since long ago and it works.

Even Canada, not being as good as in Europe has it. What's the problem with health care in the US? The lobbies? Doctors? To hell with them. Just do it.

The War on Drugs is too costly to maintain. Granted it does fund some things that do help, but it hurts more for the people who do not ask to be pittied and generalised. The lies of the polls that drug use is going down I beleive is false ..that is only in small gated communities, and thats funny because they usually end up to be drunk with power..so it all equates.

Health Care should be price capped for common visits, and insurance for severe injuries. Thoese who know medicine and healing should not be so quick to assume they deserve so much. They see themselves as elite sure, but ethics I think were forgotten. The system needs to be repaired, both inside and outside..or otherwise..wholeisticly. Or however you spell the word...

reply to post by Grafilthy

With McCain's health care plan we will have choices though.....

I know choices, choices... let freedom ring.

That is part of the problem... We are on system overload with choices.. Most people's lives are complicated enough without also worrying about reading the fine print of multiple healthcare plans.

You really think we can trust people to make good healthcare choices? These are the same folks who borrowed money they didn't have and same folks who lent them money they knew they couldn't pay back. This is far from a socialist system. There are plenty of "choices" in life. We need answers.

What is up with the socialist bashing?

I come from Sweden, in many aspects a socialist country. The social democrats have been in charge way longer than any other party (at the moment we have a sort-of-right-wing-coalition that seem more socialistic than ever before).

And the thing about healthcare up here; it works great. First of all, it is free (apart from a small standardized fee) and second its quality is great, infact, one of the best in the world today. This we can thank our socailist history for.

It was a major outrage here when the first privatized hospital was about to open (dunno if they are open yet though). McCain said in the debate that the people should have the ability to chose.
What does he mean chose? A good expensive hospital or a crappy cheap one?
Why not a high standard, govemental own one that will be the one and the same for all? This works here at least...
Or maybe I am making it all a bit simple for myself...

But I just became confused when he said that there must be a choice.
Why must there be one? How can a country benefit from that? Honest question.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Well if you think Sarah Palin is middle class guess again. Her and her family own land rights, oil rights, fishing rights, and the list goes on, with a net worth of upward of a million dollars. Biden is bottom three in washington including the house and senate in income. He's grown up lower to middle class and knows how it is to survive middle class. So before you make an upsured statement check you facts old man...

Perhaps your medical care is fine; however, if so, it is the exception. Most countries that have government provided universal health care have severe problems with getting things such as operations performed in reasonable time. In any case, there is a BIG difference between trying to implement universal health care for country like Sweden with a population of 9 million, and the US, with a population over 300 million.
In addition, Swedish income taxes are quite high, with a marginal rate for workers of 80%.

Between 1970 and 1990 the overall tax burden rose by over ten percentage points and the growth was very low compared to most other countries in Western Europe. The marginal income tax for workers reached over 80%. Eventually government spent over half of the country's gross domestic product. Sweden steadily declined from its perennial top five GDP per capita ranking. Since the late 1970s, Sweden's economic policies were increasingly questioned by economists and Ministry of Finance officials.[

source:en.wikipedia.org...
Most Americans would NEVER accept such a rate.

Why not forget bribing America with tax credits and on the other ticket universal health care and address the real problem that is the Government is in bed with the drug companies and the health insurance companies.

If these 2 sectors of the health industry were completely cut off by the government they would need to compete against each other and the cost to the consumer would naturally go lower.

This principle is sound and is what allows us to afford things like cell phones, technology products, choice in utilities and service companies.

The costs always go up on products and services when the government allows lobbying to control legislation in congress to give these special interests the ability to corner a market.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have a solution that really fixes the core problem.
This is the same in energy, finance and everything else not expressly authorized under the United States Constitution.

I always knew that McCain's plan is faulty and amounts to a fraud, and after yesterday's meeting with our benefits coordinator this is even more obvious.

You see, major insurance companies post annual increases to their premiums. And the increases are already different at different (competing) companies. However, all of them grew in the past few years at a high rate.

McCain's 5k credit is fixed, however.

PS. Right now, a State Comission can intervene on my part, when there is an issue with the insurance company refusing to pay the benefit (and that's not rare at all). With deregulated insurance, we'll be stuck with wads of unpaid bills.

No McCain for you today.