McCain spoke disdainfully of "gold-plated" health care plans - (like the one he gets as a member of U.S. Congress) - that pay for hair transplants (why does he keep saying that? Does he knows senators who got one? or is he saying heart transplants - Cheney?)
He wants to GIVE a $5000 credit for people (families) to buy health care on the market ($2500 for a single person)
He claims that the average cost of health care plan in the U.S. is $5800 (I can't figure out if he is talking about a family or an individual, however).
Are his figures right? and what does it mean for Americans>
More below the fold
The National Coalition of Health Care has a fact sheet about health care and health care costs.Health Care Factsheet
It is current up to the year 2007. The trend is a between 6-7% increase for the year 2008.
So what does the Coalition say about health care costs?
In 2007, employer health insurance premiums increased by 6.1 percent - two times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100
$12,100 for a family plan. Hmmm. That sounds suspiciously like the number Obama stated. It is way more than what McCain states the average health care plan costs - $5800.
Well, perhaps he is discussing the cost of a single person's health coverage.
The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,400
Hmmmm. A $5000 credit for the average 12,100 family plan.
Hmmmm. A $2500 credit for the average $4400 individual plan.
So, My salary will go up and my income tax will go up because suddenly, accordig to McCain, I am earning another $4400. I work in a small company, I think less than 75 people are eligible and receive health care coverage. They might not be able to afford giving me health care at all, or I would be paying even more of the share than I do now.I pay MORE taxes, and walk away with $2500 to pay for a plan that will probably now be costing me good knows what.
Because my employer was nice last year and ate the cost of my health insureance premium increase. Of course, considering MY premiums, out of my paycheck has risen 300% since 2005, I guess, they are feeling sorry for me - it has gone up from $50 to $200 per month. I actually don't know the total cost of the health care - probably between $6500-$8500 - I live in NY and I actually have a "gold-plated plan - I get to choose my doctors and have in network and out of network options. But, my deductible are high and ever increasing, as are my co-payments and prescriptions.
In 2005, the United States spent 16 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care. It is projected that the percentage will reach 20 percent by 2016.1
* Health care spending accounted for 10.9 percent of the GDP in Switzerland, 10.7 percent in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.4
Not only are we spending more of our GDP, we are covering a smaller percentage of people while we are at it!
* Although nearly 47 million Americans are uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens.3
# In 2007, health care spending in the United States reached $2.3 trillion, and was projected to reach $3 trillion in 2011.1 Health care spending is projected to reach $4.2 trillion by 2016.1
# Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense.3
So much for vaunted Republican values of less wasteful spending!
I give up. I don't think the coalition will mind if a do a large block quote. Their facts of damning of McCain and the Republican mindset about health care in America. W
* The annual premium that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four averaged $12,100 in 2007. Workers contributed nearly $3,300, or 10 percent more than they did in 2006.2 The annual premiums for family coverage significantly eclipsed the gross earnings for a full-time, minimum-wage worker ($10,712).
* Workers are now paying $1,400 more in premiums annually for family coverage than they did in 2000.2
* Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 100 percent, compared to cumulative inflation of 24 percent and cumulative wage growth of 21 percent during the same period.2
* Health insurance expenses are the fastest growing cost component for employers. Unless something changes dramatically, health insurance costs will overtake profits by 2008.5
* According to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States have been rising four times faster on average than workers’ earnings since 2000.2
* The average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance has increased more than 143 percent since 2000. Average out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments for medications, and co-insurance for physician and hospital visits rose 115 percent during the same period.6
* The percentage of Americans under age 65 whose family-level, out-of-pocket spending for health care, including health insurance, that exceeds $2,000 a year, rose from 37.3 percent in 1996 to 43.1 percent in 2003 - a 16 percent increase.7
We are tied to an employer based system that is outdated, and past attempts of reforming the system limits what Obama believes he will be able to do. Still, we are experiencing a seachange in the U.S. - our banking system is being "nationalized" Why not go the whole damn slippery slope and revampt the health system too?
Still realistically, Obama's plan may be workable and can be implemented without a lot of hoopla.
Keeping the system, making smaller employers better able to offer it, widening coverage for children and offering an umbrella program for those under 65 may be the type of flexible system that does the job - getting people covered and costs reduced because of economies of scale.
Frankly, give me a one-payer system so people can change jobs, buy houses without being concerned accidents or illness having them lose their homes! McCain's plan only adds to the problem. Obama's tries to address it at its different levels.
Getting back to Obama and McCain. Where the hell is McCain getting HIS figures from? Either his $5800 is too high for an individual or half the cost of a family plan. And, living in NY, guess what, my costs are even higher - so once again, his "credit" leaves me short by even more.
This is a man who is out of touch with the day to day concerns of Americans. Who is SO out of touch, he declares other people "out of touch". Such ignorance and arrogance combined is frightening. Did he sell me on his plan?
Thanks, but no thanks.