The Joel Gaines Show  

Archived Blog Post

Date / Time: 5/6/2008 4:25 PM UTC

McCain’s Health Plan

While there is often a great difference between what people say in candidacy and what they do in office, I am afraid of what is being said by all of the current candidates regarding health insurance for Americans.

What we are being offered is a trifecta of stupid ideas, which have no chance of doing anything to improve health care, nor make it more available. I mentioned earlier in the year that John McCain’s health care plan was going to grow government, but more information is coming our that you should understand.

In the “Before taxes  deductions” column of my pay statement are “Health” and “Dental”. John McCain’s plan will change that. While John McCain wants to offer a $5,000 tax credit for health care, he also wants to move health care into the taxable income bracket. What does this do? Looking at this from a very shallow, strictly monetary standpoint of the average employee, it does nothing. If you have 2500-3000 dollars in cost for insurance today, plus about 2K in out of pocket expenses, you are close to break even.

However, companies now lose almost all of the incentive to offer subsidized health benefits - because they will also be taxed - which makes these benefits either vastly more costly to the average American or incents the companies to drop health care from their compensation packages altogether.  In a climate where businesses are already struggling with the cost of health care for employees, this is going to damage us economically - but more importantly, the morale of the average worker in America will be impacted severely.

The answer to the cost of health care is not creative finances and more government involvement. It is not taking from the average American worker to give to those who have less. The answer is to attack those things which make health care so expensive.  Health care is expensive for several reasons, but the largest reason is liability. Doctors are insured to ridiculous levels because of liability and the potential for punitive judgments against them. Doctors are more apt to order procedures which are not necessary to the case because of liability.

If the government wants to help Americans with health care costs and really wants to make health care more accessible, they should insert themselves in reforming medical tort policy.  Insurance rates would go down for doctors and Americans would be less prodded and prescribed. The cost of medical attention would decrease almost immediately.

• Tags:
• McCain
• health
• plan
• policy

• Permalink