John McCain is 72 years old and a skin cancer survivor. There is NO insurance plan that will cover him as a private citizen. His only option outside of having oodles of Cindy's money is medicare. Wondering about cancer patients I called Blue Cross Blue Shield in Arizona for a quote. According to the person on the phone they don't cover people with cancer as a pre-existing condition until they've been cancer free for 10 years. What do you do for those ten years? Hope the cancer doesn't come back?
Medicare does cover cancer but it's the same medicare that McCain has voted to cut, and take apart.
McCain has long argued that the bill that created the Part D prescription-drug benefit in 2003 went too far, covering too many people and putting too great a burden on taxpayers. McCain believes the drug benefit should only be available to low-income beneficiaries. He voted against the bill to create the program, even participating in a filibuster to attempt to block it from coming to a vote.
Of the roughly 1.5 million Floridians enrolled in the drug benefit, only about 570,000 are considered "low income" under Medicare’s current definition. Beneficiaries with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level can qualify for generous additional subsidies under the drug benefit.
During his run for the White House, McCain has not obscured his view that the drug benefit needs to be scaled back, indeed even bragging about it at times.
In an October speech in Des Moines, Iowa, McCain said, "I strongly opposed adding another unfunded entitlement to the fiscal train wreck that is Medicare by providing all seniors with a costly drug benefit, even those, like me, who can more than afford to pay for their medicine."
What about the Palin family?
At ehealthinsurance I entered approximate birth dates for parents Sarah and Todd and their 5 children aged 18 to around 5 months.
Hey, there's a plan that's only $303 per month. Ooops, it has a $3000 deductible, still makes you pay another 20% of costs in coinsurance and doesn't pay for any doctor office visits. Oh, and that $3000 deductible is per person becoming $6000 for 2 people and up. Pregnancy and delivery aren't covered. Under prescription drugs it says that a discount applies rather than specify the copayment.
Another option with only a $1000 deductible comes from United Health Care for $1135 per month. Coinsurance is 20% and office visits are still not covered.
All of this does not include the consideration of a pre-existing condition like Down Syndrome. Want to hear what getting health insurance for a family with such a child is like if you're not a governor or senator?
Margaret Demko, the mother of three-year-old Emily, testified before the Ohio Finance Committee on February 27, 2008, on how waiting for health care coverage has impacted Emily and her future.
Emily was born with Down Syndrome. After receiving Emily’s diagnosis, the family decided that it was important for Margaret to stay home in order to best meet the needs of their child. They explored numerous options after losing their employer-sponsored coverage, but due to Emily’s pre-existing condition, the Demkos were denied private coverage. Luckily, they qualified for Medicaid. However, by their 6-month reauthorization meeting, the monthly family income was $135 over the allowable limits.
The medical bills, in excess of $3,500 a month, were devastating, forcing the family to make difficult decisions regarding therapy. Emily’s medical condition requires orthotic shoe inserts, physical therapy, and corrective eye treatments, as well as hearing and blood tests. The Demkos cannot afford to incur all the expenses at once.
The family income, between 250 percent and 300 percent of the federal poverty level, would make them eligible for Medicaid under the expansion enacted in Ohio in 2007. However, the August 17th Directive has put that expansion, and Emily’s access to care, in jeopardy.
Obama has talked about opening up the plan that covers senators like himself and McCain to the rest of us. I'd like to see that happen and let the "free market" try to compete.
originally posted at SquareState.net.