From Paul Krugman:
Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:
"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!
McCain's plan sounds perfect to me. What do you think?
With thanks to the Weird Rabit.
I think he might be a bit thick.
ReplyDeleteAh the gift of timing... I am sure that McCain is so dang happy about that.
ReplyDeleteOne has to laugh - and then cry, and then get to work when we hear him blaming Obama and the Dems for the economic crisis.
First of all - blaming at this point is pointless, let us just see the fracking problems and clean them up.
Although it does seem a bit late for that, maybe we can start over.... Ugh my head hurts.
Well, this little quote certainly does remind us what McCain really believes and what philosophy would actually guide a McCain administration.
ReplyDeleteBut the actual plan he is putting forth should scare most of us. McCain proposes treating employer-paid health care as taxable income. Since the value of that benefit will exceed the credit of 2500 dollars that he proposes to offset it, almost anybody who gets health care through their work will see a significant tax increase.
Now, the aim of this plan is to eliminate the employer-paid plan. Right away, younger employees will seek to opt out of the plan since most are either health enough to take the risk of having no health care or will be able to buy it for cheaper than the group premium. This will leave only older or sicker workers in the pool, and that will drive up prices for the group further. Finally, the employer will want to end the expensive plan altogether. The older or sicker workers will not be able to purchase any meaningful insurance on the market, so they will be uninsured.
But it gets worse. Under the McCain plan, insurers will be exempt from any state regulation except where the plan is supposedly centered. So, the state which offers the fewest protections will be home to the most health care plans. And you can be sure that they will buy the best state legislature they can to make sure this continues!
So, under McCain, you will either not have health insurance, pay more for health insurance, and, when you do buy health insurance, you will discover that you have little, if any, recourse when the insurer decides not to pay your bill. And remember, McCain and his fellow Republicans will not even let you declare bankruptcy if you run up medical bills your insurer will not cover. The only safe thing to do will be to get sick and die.
I do understand the distaste that many working-class people feel for the Gruyere and Pinot Grigio crowd that flocked to Obama early on. But voting for McCain because you do not like them is like drinking sterno because you dislike white wine. It is utter insanity.
McCain's guiding economic hand is Mr. Phil Gramm, the architect of the banking and financial houses fiasco. I would not want either of them within 100 miles of my tax dollars. I am guessing he learned to tell people what they want to hear some years back.
ReplyDeleteFred, a McCain presidency would be a disaster. At one time, I did not believe it was possible to have a worse president than Bush, but I have changed my mind.
ReplyDeleteFred, I forgot to say: please tell Wilma "Hi" for me.
ReplyDeleteMcCain has a health care plan? I thought his intent was to destroy health care plans, except his own.
ReplyDeleteMimi is too much a lady for me to get too wound up on this topic on her blog, so let this suffice.
Johnieb, everything Cheney/Bush touched turned to shit. I fear it will be worse under a McCain presidency. Is that lady-like enough for you?
ReplyDelete