I don't think the message of Bush's health plan as it relates to his "ownership society" is really getting out, and it's a big, big issue.
Bush's healthcare plan calls for the elimination of employer-funded health insurance.
Let me repeat: Bush's healthcare plan calls for the elimination of employer-funded health insurance.
Did you know that?
Indeed it's true. All his talk of increasing the limit on health savings accounts (the tax-free money people can put aside for health care costs) is because he wants people to pay for 100% of their health care out of that savings - the insurance, the copays, the prescriptions, all of it.
I saw this ABC News report last week, and its analysis was just confirmed tonight by a writer from the National Review (yes, the National Review) when he said, "Why isn't Kerry telling the public that Bush is going to take away their health insurance? That by 'ownership society' he means you are going to have to pay for it all." From the ABC report:
"The Bush vision is quite radical.
He essentially is dreaming of a world where there is no employer-provided insurance," said Uwe Reinhardt, a health economist at Princeton University. "You buy your own insurance, but you pay the first $2,000 to $4,000 per year out of your own pocket."
The idea makes a lot of sense for healthy Americans who don't expect to have many medical problems. They can buy insurance with a low premium and a high deductible and use the money from their HSAs to pay for minimal expenses they incur.
"People who are now buying very expensive insurance on the individual market are attracted to this, because they are finally getting a tax break, and they are getting an opportunity for their employers or themselves to put some money aside for health eventualities that we all run into," said Joseph Antos of the American Enterprise Institute, another think tank in Washington.
Bush campaign officials say consumers will be more savvy and aware of costs if they're in charge of their own health expenses. That, they argue, will reduce the total bill America pays for health care.
But critics worry the healthiest, wealthiest Americans will be more likely to take advantage of the tax breaks and the system would leave poorer patients behind.
[snip]
Kerry's health care proposals are less radical in theory. They are more extensive, though still not a total overhaul of the current system.
The Democratic presidential candidate would create a voluntary program in which businesses would offer health coverage for their employees in exchange for having the federal government pick up most of the tab for catastrophic cases. He would also give tax credits to small businesses to help them insure workers.
In an effort to cover more Americans, Kerry would also offer incentives to the states to expand programs for low-income families and children.
The Kerry plan would likely reduce the premiums many Americans pay for health insurance.
What employed person on the planet would want to hear that if Bush gets his way, health insurance will no longer be a benefit from their employer? That soon they will have to find the money to pay for the health insurance for their entire family all on their own? Even if the business community said, "Well, we'll just bump up their salaries so that the difference won't be a hardship," how long do you suppose that bump would last?
This proposal is an outrage. Low-end hourly workers are still trying to convince their employers to include health insurance benefits in their overall compensation, and now Bush wants to take these benefits from everyone?
Even Bush supporters do not know this core piece of Bush's plan. I let myself get into a debate about it with a hardcore Bush supporter when canvassing this weekend. I couldn't help pointing this fact out to him when he said he was a Bush supporter and that healthcare was a top concern. This man is actively volunteering for Bush and insisted I was wrong - he even said that he is a business owner so he knows very well what Bush's health plan is (though he kept talking about how it currently works). This guy would come around to Bush's plan if he understood it, but it would be a surprise to him. Imagine how the rest of the public would respond?
I am not one to give advice to the Kerry campaign, but this issue is ripe for widespread communication on what it actually means. Even if Kerry doesn't exploit it, perhaps anyone reading this can when canvassing, phone banking, or talking to friends: Bush wants to take away the health insurance you receive from your employer and make you pay for it all on your own.
*Update [2004-9-19 0:24:35 by lapis]:* Also take a look at how Mother Jones analyzes the plan -- it's much more detailed, but here's the final paragraph:
All of Bush's major health care proposals have a few characteristics in common. They would give large businesses a chance to cast their workers out into the open market. The proposals would eradicate the practice of community pooling, instead creating a two-layered system of healthy individuals with low premiums and sick individuals with unaffordable premiums. And they would allow insurance companies to jack up premiums for those who need medical coverage the most. And together the proposals would cover only a tiny fraction of the 44 million uninsured Americans.