Quote:
Originally Posted by Soriak  Is this only going to be available to couples with kids? Or a $5k per household credit?
The latter would be interesting... if it's an actual credit (ie not just deductible from your pre-tax income) with an estimated 100m households, this would cost half a trillion per year. About 4x as expensive as Clinton's plan, while not assuring universal coverage. (5x the cost of Obama's plan and I'd estimate the same coverage)
Yeah, McCain has the "less government" approach - but what good does it do if it costs so much more? Solutions spurred by ideology instead of effectiveness are worthless. |
Lifted from his site:
# Reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance, and provide all individuals with a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to increase incentives for insurance coverage. Individuals owning innovative multi-year policies that cost less than the full credit can deposit remainder in expanded health savings accounts.
# Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines, to maximize their choices, and heighten competition for their business that will eliminate excess overhead, administrative, and excessive compensation costs from the system.
# Insurance should be innovative, moving from job to home, job to job, and providing multi-year coverage.
So, de-emphasizing employee-sponsored health care and supporting HSA's (which I am a big fan of). Really, health plans have changed over the past 30 years. You used to have high deductibles, where now everything is a small co-pay with high premiums being masked by your employer's benefit package. No one shops for cheaper doctors or drugs. People go to the emergency room for non-critical problems.
HSA's are a good way to shift the industry back towards an actual market with competitive pricing. Preventative care is fully covered, but you are encouraged to save money over the year in a tax-free account (similar to an IRA). I had one until I switched jobs. My current employer doesn't offer a Qualified High-Deductible Health Plan (QHDHP), so I could no longer contribute to my HSA.
Hillary's plan has a premium cap based on a % of income, so I expect to be proper fucked with my middle-class, dual-income, no kids household.
Obama's plan will make heath care more affordable... I am not exactly sure how but I believe it involves some combination of hopes and dreams.
edit: As far as costs go, it sounds like some of it is offset by tax breaks already given for employer-sponsored health plans. Any other costs McCain plans to make up for with reductions in other areas. I am not sure if this WSJ article is subscriber-only:
Monday's Interview Quote:
|
Originally Posted by TFA Q: You're proposing very expensive tax cuts while only enumerating small specific spending reductions, such as eliminating earmarks. Are you worried your numbers don't add up?
A: If you just look at two spending bills that the president signed into law, there's $35 billion just in those two bills [that could be cut]. I saved the taxpayers over $6 billion on one Air Force tanker deal. I'm not worried about being able to find savings in government. |
The guy is notoriously frugal.
