Anyone actually realize what it would mean when McCain gives people $5000 to go and "shop" for their own health insurance? Wow, let me take that money and go "shop." First I have to fill out the health insurance application and list all my past illnesses and medications currently taken. OOPS, that means all of my current illnesses will now be considered as pre-existing conditions, meaning that my new health insurer will NOT cover them! Every medication I am taking, every illness I currently have will not be covered, due to it being considered a pre-existing condition. A dream come true for health insurers.... If that is not criminal, what is?
No matter who is elected: 1) There will never, ever be universal health insurance in the US. 2) There will be no lasting tax cuts in the next 5 years, if ever.
Obama's health plan is NOT universal heatlh coverage. BUT Obama's health plan gets rid of pre-existing condition garbage. Can you image everyone in american going to buy their own insurance under McCain's plan and finding out that they now have to pay for EVERTHING themselves?
It is interesting to me to note that people who claim to be great traders and all that it implies (freedom, flexibility, financial strength) are looking at McCain's plan as criminal. After all, isn't shopping for health insurance something that most of us are already have done? After all, I don't have an "employer" to pick up the tab. The more I read on this site, the more I realize that most don't walk the walk, they just talk the talk. Sad
You miss the point. McCain says you can go and shop for heatlh insurance. That is a lie. You cannot go and shop if you have any pre-existing condition (majority of americans?). Try and buy a heatlh plan if you have diabetes. NO ONE WILL INSURE YOU. There is one heatlh insurer in every state that by law HAS to insure you. That is the only insurer that any daytrader can go and buy if they have any pre-existing condition. Even in this case, they can still tell you that for x number of years, your pre-existing condition (diabetes, cancer, etc) will not be covered. Meaning you will be paying the insurer but your current illness will not be covered for set amount of years. I am in this boat. The point is that if McCain gets his way, EVERY american will realize this as well. And knowing that most americans are ignorant, they will still buy a plan that will not cover any of their current illness. Then when they buy it, they will realize that it doesn't cover anything. Just like the morons who bought million dollar homes making minumum wage.
I don't know all the details of McCain's plan, but whoever designed it should be tortured then shot. It lends itself perfectly to scare ads about "losing insurance" and having to...gasp "pay for it." The crux of his plan, as I understand it, is to get employers out of the business of providing health care. That is a very good idea IMO. Employer-provided health care is a vestige of wage and pricw controls from WW II, when it was added as disguised compensation. It might have made some sense when people typically worked for one employer their entire career, but it clearly makes no sense whatsoever today. Does your employer provide your auto insurance? Homeowners' coverage? Why is health care different? The existing situation creates a two-tiered job market, jobs with or without health care. That puts many employers. eg small businesses, at a serious disadvantage. It limits job mobility and forces people to stay in deadend jobs that happen to provide health benefits. McCain's solution apparently would tax employees on the value of the employer-provided care. For many, it would not amount to anything since they already pay for it. The employer merely is able to arrange group coverage. For those who get it as part of their comp package, the idea I guess is for the tax credit to cover the additional income. Messy but not crazy. The pre-existing condition issue is important. Obama apparently wants to bar insurers from denying coverage for preexisting conditions. That's fair, right? Only why would I bother to get insurance if i could just wait until I got sick, then get a policy that would cover my illness. So it's not quite fair to force insurers to cover all preexisting conditions. The idea of consumers using medical savings accounts and bargaining with health poroviders for good deals could only have been dreamed up by someone with a gold-plated plan, probably a government plan. That's just not the way the system works. If you doubt me, try to negotiate a discount with the hospital next time you need ER treatment. The real benefit of insurance for most people is the discounts the insurers squeeze out of providers. My policy usually pays for itself that way, not by the reimbursements. There are problems with every approach to health care reform. An election cycle is not the best way to illuminate them. McCain's plan is hard to understand, while Obama pretends there are no tradeoffs.
No, I got your point. One the one hand, no one will insure you. On the other, there is one insurer that HAS to sure you. So wait, which is it? Can I get insurance or can't I? At the same time, if everyone "shops" for insurance, everyone will get insurance from the same source according to your logic. And all the other health insurers will sit by and let this one company collect massive premium. But you know, as well as I do, that they won't. Also, I am SICK of the attitude by people that just because they are born in the USA they deserve healthcare. It's a joke.
And that's why the hoi polloi love him so... no worries, no consequnces, no costs... In fact, CASH BACK! Simply Nir-FARKIN-vana!!
Well about the pre-existing condition and just waiting to buy insurance when you get sick: IF you end up in the hospital without insurance, you will have to pay for all of that yourself. Even if you try to buy insurance at that point, it would be too late. You might be out $10K or more in hospital costs for that ONE illness. It would end up costing you way more than just buying insurance when you ain't sick.
You can buy insurance from the company in your state that has to insure you by law. BUT they will not insure your pre-existing condition. Other insurers will NOT insure you PERIOD. If you have a minor pre-existing condition, they will insure but charge larger premiums (which is fine) but something like diabetes, forget it. In any case, any pre-existing condition will not be covered under a new plan even if they do insure you. Thats a fact, either look it up or ask someone with pre-existing conditions who tried to buy their own insurance.