Today's Dallas Morning News has a front-page article headlined:
McCain's health insurance plan: More radical than Democrats'?
Perhaps some eyes will finally be opened among the older, conservative demographic targeted by most of this newspaper. Then again, perhaps pigs will fly. But it's worth your look, I think. Some excerpts and observations to follow...
Yep, that's right: a front-page article in today's Dallas Morning News, of all places, headlined: McCain's health insurance plan: More radical than Democrats'?
Some telling excerpts (emphasis and comments added):
...some [north Texas employers] do say the plan, which Mr. McCain detailed in July, would encourage young and healthy workers to forgo company coverage, purchasing insurance on their own rather than paying income taxes on the benefit. That would leave employers with only the costly sick workers to insure. And that, they said, could eventually lead to the death of company-provided health plans. ...Bob Queyrouze, who oversees benefits for 1,200 workers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, calls Mr. McCain's plan "radical." "Long term, it would be destructive to the system." ... He adds that he doesn't think the health insurance industry could respond quickly enough to handle a large influx of individuals looking to buy their own, more affordable policies.
So, hey, maybe the "supermarket" in those semi-cute TV commercials for the ironically named Progressive Insurance can start selling health care? Ennnhhhh, probably not.
Critics question whether individuals –- especially those with chronic or pre-existing medical conditions –- would be able to find health plans they could afford. Mr. McCain addresses this question by saying he would create a federally supported plan to insure those denied coverage. Opponents also say the amount of the tax credit will not be enough to purchase comprehensive coverage.
Ah, Republicans and their love for frickin' "tax credits" to solve everything, once again -- hoping the low-info voters won't first realize that you have to have stored-up income to make that useful. Who's got stored-up income for massive new expenses?
For that matter, try to think of how many people you know over the age of 40 without at least one "chronic or pre-existing medical condition." I can't. Chaos ensues. Moving on...
...The tax credits were intentionally set lower than the amount typically spent on employer-provided health plans. That is to encourage individuals as well as employers to shop for less expensive policies, said John Goodman, president of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank, and a health policy adviser to Mr. McCain's campaign.
...and one more well-set SOB who apparently thinks we're a "nation of whiners," to use Phil Gramm's phrase:
This would help rein in the nation's ballooning health care costs, Mr. Goodman argued. ...The tax credit "would not subsidize bells and whistles [marriage counseling, acupuncture, etc.] as the current system does," Mr. Goodman said in an e-mail. While most company plans do not cover marriage counseling or acupuncture...
...thus rendering Goodman's argument both strawman-fixated and bullshit in one stroke...
...many do cover such costly services as infertility treatments and psychiatric analysis sessions. Presumably, those who did not need such treatments would be able to save by buying a more streamlined plan.
So you need to be young, healthy, all organs (including reproductive) working perfectly, and of completely and irrevocably sound mind before McCain's health plan will save you money. Everybody else gets screwed. Niiiiiice, John, real nice.
...A 40-year-old Plano telecommunications worker ... doubts the McCain tax credit will be large enough to buy insurance on the open market for himself and his wife.
"Basically, I would be forced to choose between paying the increased taxes [on the company-paid premium], or pay at least $4,000 out-of-pocket per year for private insurance, after adjusting for the value of the tax credit," he said. "Anyone with good insurance is not going to find this acceptable."
That, ladies and gentleman, is your money quote. It's the message we need to hammer home in the next three months. Anyone with good insurance will hate John McCain's "health care" plan. This doesn't mean the wily old bastard won't flip-flop away from it to something that sounds better, just long enough to get him elected, but what he and his people are currently saying is something that the American people will never want. In fact, given its intent to "save" younger, healthier people from having to support all of us who had the temerity to, y'know, get older and have shit happen to our bodies, this may be some bizarre and desperate attempt on McCain's part to go after the one age group -- young voters -- which is most strongly for Obama at the present. I think they're a helluva lot smarter than that. We shall see.
So, in summation, if you need any more reason to be alarmed about the prospect of President John Sidney McCain III, this surprisingly even-sided Dallas Morning News article just gave it to you. If you need any more proof to use among your uncommitted friends why it would be an utter disaster if McCain wins, this article just gave it to you. Use it wisely; use it well.
ONE MORE THING:
I, personally, would love to see Medicare for all; I am 100% in favor of the work and words of our great fellow Kossack, nyceve. What I mean is that, in the current context of what most people imagine as "not radical," McCain's plan definitely is (i.e., "radical") and should be used against him.