Lost in the economic crisis, the lousy horserace numbers for McCain, and the personal attacks of the McCain camp is the ongoing health care crisis in the United States. With our current system, there remain 47 million without care and millions more who are underinsured. Cost issues exist alongside inequalities of care access. And now, with unemployment rising, the issue is becoming more acute.
Paul Krugman: Conservative Republicans still hate Medicare, and would kill it if they could — in fact, they tried to gut it during the Clinton years (thats what the 1995 shutdown of the government was all about). But so far they havent been able to pull that off.
So John McCain wants to destroy the health insurance of nonelderly Americans instead. But but Not good. Obama’s idea is different. Today, he signed on to the Health Care for America Now principles, which do not endorse specific legislation, but are compatible with single payer and other approaches. From a press release:
Today, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) signed the Health Care for America Now statement declaring that he is on the side of quality, affordable health care for all and opposed to leaving Americans on their own with unregulated health insurance.
There’s still plenty of room to argue about the best way to get there, but with a recession looming and people in danger of losing their jobs, this is not an issue that can be ignored any more. Expect it to be brought up in the town hall debate tomorrow – unlike the phoney stuff being brought up by McCain’s campaign and his increasingly shrill VP candidate, who caters only to the shrinking Republican base, this is an issue that all Americans actually care about.
“Health Care for America Now’s goal this year is to get the next President and a majority of Congress committed to the principles of quality, affordable health care for all and opposed to policies that would tax our benefits at work and leave us on our own with the unregulated, bureaucratic private insurance industry,” said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager, Health Care for America Now. “With Senator Obama’s signature, we are taking a major step towards getting the next President and Congress to make comprehensive health care reform a priority in 2009.”
John McCain’s plan is anything but acceptable. Since it’s all about saving money and nothing else, he proposes, according to the WSJ: McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts…Medicare, Medicaid Spending Would Be Reduced to Offset Proposed Tax Credit
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain’s senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/6/124346/441/758/621648
Those of us who analyze health policy and trends for a living have struggled to follow John McCain’s health plan through its many seemingly-improvised changes. First he was taxing health benefits through both payroll and income tax. Then he said he only intended to apply income tax, which meant that his plan would create even larger deficits. Now he says there won’t be deficits, because he’s going to make up the cost of those tax credits by slashing Medicare and Medicaid.
When a candidate suddenly, almost whimsically changes the way he proposes to handle $1.3 trillion – which is the amount of money his plan puts in play over the next ten years – it’s time to get nervous.
We already knew the McCain plan was going to cost most Americans money (in at least three different ways.) Now we know it could jeopardize their medical care when they get older, too. The end result of this off-the-cuff planning could change the way Americans receive, or don’t receive, medical care in this country…at least three kinds of health “tax increases” (more accurately described as increased personal cost) under the McCain plan: a “slow bleed” for people who retain coverage as the tax credit falls behind inflation, a $,7000-plus spike for people who lose their coverage immediately, and an increase in out-of-pocket costs (and denials, etc.) for people who still have insurance. What do we get in return? According to that neutral study, three million uninsured would gain coverage – briefly. After five years the number of uncovered would go up.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/mccains-erratic-health-st_b_132242.html
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I hope all the …
I hope all the idiots who voted for BO are happy as our country goes down the tubes and people loose their jobs, homes and taxes are increased and increased. Give our health care to the people who delivered water to New Orleans! Good call.
This guy was on …
This guy was on weed, anyway why are several of you morons mad that this health care bill, Obama had told us his strategy before he was elected, You people are the biggest bunch of misinformed rejects I have ever encountered this side of the Mississippi!!
Simply not the …
Simply not the truth …. look no system is perfect but ours needs HELP now!! It simply cant stay the way it is …. Too much money… not enough people covered…. to much discrimination…And the big one rising costs that wont stop….
What make you think …
What make you think you’d get help for for your health condition. It is based of the oregon health plan. Oregon won’t pay for bad conditions. They much rather help out some they can fix, You however wouldn’t much help or none at all.
read the bill, they’d much rather pay for a abortion than your health condition.
they are not about life, what don’t you see?
If you die they don’t spend more on you!
Cutting the cost, plain and simple.
The Gov is great at business, look at SSI
Awesome job!
I was being …
I was being sarcastic. I was trying to point out the bias in the very title of the video. “John Mccain’s TERRIIBLE Health Care “Plan” vs. Obama’s. Funny title, but my title is funnier.
totally agree and …
totally agree and obama’s whole thing is take from the rich and give to the poor sounds like a robin hood fairy tale to me!
you know what if …
you know what if you think obama’s health care plan is so great why don’t you go live in a country were you HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO BUY INSURANCE for your health care. idk about you but i’m only 19 i’m young i don’t need health insurance i work out everyday i’m very healthy and inshape the only thing that makes you want health insurance is if you get in an accident sorry i’m gonna have to side with SRV08
cause obama’s is so …
cause obama’s is so much better lol
John Mccain’s …
John Mccain’s terrible baby killin, puppy eating health care reform VS Obama’s wonderful gumdrop, unicornes, flowers, and cute kittins reform. We report, you decide.
I did my thesis on …
I did my thesis on this, so I did think about what I’m saying. I suggest you research the RAND insurance experiments of the 1980s to learn more. Also, regarding profits, health insurance companies operate at a 2pc profit margin; even zeroing that out does not allow for a debt-neutral public option. Lastly, increasing demand coincident with constant supply raises the “price” of health care, regardless if that “price” is defined in terms of dollars, waiting times, or rationed procedures.
Public option will …
Public option will ABSOLUTELY give everyone a chance at health care…. think about what your saying… private insurance companies are about profit and picking and choosing who they insure… PUBLIC OPTION is not about profit
Obama’s Plan does …
Obama’s Plan does NOT give everyone a chance at health care. Increasing the number of people who can request health care doesn’t mean they are going to get health care – which is exactly the problem with this plan. There is no increase in doctors until 2013, so for 4 years there will be millions more people demanding care, and will have to stand in line to get it. Unfortunately, the poor cannot afford to take vacation days to wait in line, so they don’t get treated anyways. Fundamental flaw.
McCain is an idiot. …
McCain is an idiot. Thank god he lost.
the sheep only know …
the sheep only know to do as the shepard forces them to do.
bullshit most …
bullshit most people who don’t have healthcare are low income earners and yes alot of them are young people but even if they don’t think they need insurance they still would be able to afford . So basically young people have not choice but to be uninsured. I had insurance when I was 21 and remeber geting almost a 1/4 of my paycheck docked for the crappy healthcare plan. I had to cancel it because I only made 350 dollars a week before taxes.
watch The Obama …
watch The Obama Deception HQ Full length version if you havent already <3
Flip the script. …
Flip the script. Listen to who is reforming now. This video is rediculously biased.
80% of the 47 …
80% of the 47 million uninsured are either between the ages of 18 -25 who feel like they dont need health care and thus dont pay for it. and the other 20% of the 80 are people who retire but wait till they qualify for medicare.
The problem is that …
The problem is that the tax credits is what about the unemployed or uninsured …If the Tax credits covered the total of a policy for the year ….but it won’t cover the total liability .5,000.00 a year is not enough for any policy
BS … because …
BS … because Obama’s plan is still giving everyone a chance at health care…. McCain would have left millions behind … even himself behind if he wasn’t a rich bastard… Obama might be reaching to find the money to get things rolling but his plan is WAY better than McCains broken idea….
NOT TRUE…. this …
NOT TRUE…. this is a ridiculous argument …. because if you dont like it you can still have private insurance… and I”ve been to Canada live right on the border and there are no long waits like everyone wants you to think … RIDICULOUS… thats all BS …. seen it with my own two eyes…. our system has long waits sometimes …. I waited 3 hours at my last doctors visit …
WTF good is a tax …
WTF good is a tax credit for god sake when the insurance rates are sky rocketing … your honestly gonna tell me Echange would make insurance companies mind there p’s and q’s …. DOUBT THAT….. nothing about the capitalistic health care works… it’s greed and money and thats it!
his plan would have …
his plan would have giving tax credits to people to pay for insurance. Health Insurance Exchange would take away pre-existing conditions and create transparency with insurance companies. Take employers choice on health care and give it to you. This will let anyone who wants healthcare can get it
Here is what will …
Here is what will happen under obama’s plan. Every medical service would be free to the consumer. This seems great but their is sum bad. This would allow people to abuse to system and over use their benefits causing long waits ( like every other version of single-payer). Also per service it would cause tax hikes on rich. So they can give up 55% of their income to obama.
IN THE END IT SUCKS
One great benefit …
One great benefit of YouTube is that it is going to force you to be honest with yourself and eat your own words. Now you see that Obama is playing the “old Washington bait-and-switch game” (as Obama himself worded it), taxing healthcare benefits – a plan which he hammered McCain for, etc. Everybody who attacked McCain’s plan MUST now attack Obama – otherwise, its clear and documented hypocrisy.