Obama's health plan may help more uninsured: report

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An analysis of the two starkly different approaches to reforming the U.S. health care system offered by John McCain and Barack Obama suggests Obama's plan has the best chance of making health care more affordable, accessible, efficient and higher in quality.

The report, released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, sized up the presidential candidates' plans for dealing with a health care system which has left nearly 46 million people uninsured and many more underinsured.

According to the report, Democrat Obama's plan would cover 34 million of the nation's projected 67 million uninsured people in 10 years, compared with just 2 million covered under Republican John McCain's plan.

"It's a plan that tries to deal in a serious way with the uninsured," Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, said of Obama's plan in a telephone interview.

"That is clearly a top priority. He doesn't eliminate it, but in my view he cuts it in half over a 10-year period."

Obama's plan seeks to build on the current employer-based insurance system, which now provides coverage to 160 million people, or more than 60 percent of the population under 65.

His plan would require all employers except small businesses to either offer health insurance or contribute to the cost of coverage. It would replace the current individual insurance market with an insurance exchange in which small businesses and those without access to coverage could buy a private or public health plan with tax credits.

The plan also eases qualifications for low-income families to be covered under Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for the poor, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Obama's plan is most like a plan put forth earlier this year by the Commonwealth Fund, which would also build on the current employer-based health system.

MARKET SOLUTION

McCain's plan seeks to put health insurance into the hands of individuals by removing tax breaks for employer-paid health benefits and offering tax credits of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families instead.

"I think Senator McCain's plan is more concerned with health care costs and doing something about that through a market solution. It's basically saying let's have people buy their own insurance,' Davis said.

McCain would also ease state insurance restrictions and allow people to buy policies across state lines, and he would expand existing state high-risk pools for people who cannot get individual insurance because of health problems.

Researchers at the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center project McCain's plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 1.3 million in the first year at a cost $185 million. About 20 million people would lose their employer-sponsored coverage under McCain's plan, but 21 million would gain coverage on the individual market.

Obama's plan in its first year would reduce the number of uninsured by 18.4 million at a cost of $86 billion.

Over 10 years, McCain's plan would cost $1.3 trillion and Obama's would cost $1.6 trillion, according to the report.

Neither plan would offer universal health coverage, but Obama's plan would mandate health insurance coverage for children.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNew...0081002?sp=true

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well naturally. But its not difficult to do when your opponents plan is basically to let the market address the cost issue.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

[Peikko 1,575]

Clearly under the 'Alien system of importance' health care is simply not important.

[mawilson 2,133]

McCain has a plan to reform the U.S. health care system?

What, the tax credit thing?

[Dan J 277]

McCain has a plan to reform the U.S. health care system?

What, the tax credit thing?

McCain is planning on taxing employer sponsored portion of the health care premium as part of income, and then offering a tax credit of about $5000 for families to pay health care premiums.

[mawilson 2,133]

McCain has a plan to reform the U.S. health care system?

What, the tax credit thing?

McCain is planning on taxing employer sponsored portion of the health care premium as part of income, and then offering a tax credit of about $5000 for families to pay health care premiums.

So he wants to tax workers who have employer-sponsored coverage to buy 50% coverage for those who don't have any?

Sounds like a pretty dumb idea to me.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

Due to the fact that the economy is supposedly all fecked up, aint gonna happen. Get it? Obamas gonna use this economy thing to tax yo a$$.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

allegedly.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

allegedly.

No, as a matter of fact. You can look it up. There isn't a credible source out there suggesting otherwise. Not one.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

allegedly.

No, as a matter of fact. You can look it up. There isn't a credible source out there suggesting otherwise. Not one.

that's still allegation - our government could ** up a wet dream.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

allegedly.

No, as a matter of fact. You can look it up. There isn't a credible source out there suggesting otherwise. Not one.

that's still allegation - our government could ** up a wet dream.

They couldn't ** it up as badly as the profit oriented health care industries have done no matter how hard they tried. Comparing the government run systems here in the US against their private counterparts proves that very point.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

DUH wheres the money? DUH he he!

DUH, we're spending the most per capita for the least benefit. Adopting any model of any other industrialized nation would actually cover more and cost less. But you wouldn't understand this simple fact.

allegedly.

No, as a matter of fact. You can look it up. There isn't a credible source out there suggesting otherwise. Not one.

that's still allegation - our government could ** up a wet dream.

They couldn't ** it up as badly as the profit oriented health care industries have done no matter how hard they tried. Comparing the government run systems here in the US against their private counterparts proves that very point.

i'm still not buying it.

[Tiger50 0]

How does Obama plan to pay for his plan? tax the wealthy, use the emergency funds of each state set aside to fund uninsured people, tax big business when so many are going south and cash flow is decreasing. We need the the goverment to be the watch dog of the health industry now? can we trust the Goverment? look what is happening to Social Security, we could run out of money faster than we think.