McCain's Healthcare Nightm...excuse me, Plan

Lets take a look at the state of our Healthcare system really quick. Yale Professor Jacob Hacker sums it up pretty well:

"Among insured Americans, 51 million spend more than 10 percent of their income on medical care. One out of six working-age adults—27 million Americans—are carrying medical debt, and 70 percent had insurance when they incurred it. Of those with private insurance and medical debt, fully half have incomes greater than $40,000, and of this group a third are college graduates or have had postgraduate education." - Professor Jacob Hacker, Testimony Before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate, Washington, D.C., 01/16/07

Or maybe we can turn to Harvard Medical School Professor David Himmelstein who says:

"'I think the message that we take away is, really, nobody is safe in our country. Short of (Microsoft Chairman) Bill Gates, if you're sick enough long enough, you're likely to be financially ruined,' cautioned study author Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. 'We're all one serious illness away from bankruptcy,' he added." - Karen Pallarito, "Health Medical Problems Cause Half of Personal Bankruptcies," Forbes.com, 02/02/05

That is absolutely crazy, one is six INSURED American have substantial problems paying their medical bills. So what's McCain' plan?

McCain's main healthcare ideas are increased corporate competition to supposedly limit rising costs and tax credits to encourage the uninsured to buy insurance. Neither will do any more than perpetuate the dismal status quo.

Once-a-year tax credits benefit the same people who benefit from Bush's tax cuts, the moderately wealthy. Those who need coverage most will still be unable to afford premiums that now average over $12,000 per family, not including skyrocketing deductibles, co-pays, drug and hospital charges, and other fees.

The idea that corporate competition will curb spending is pretty ludacris. Under the stewardship of a market friendly administration the past decade, premiums have jumped 87 percent, far outpacing inflation and wage increases. Insurance companies don't compete by delivering more care or lowering prices. They compete by harvesting more customers and slashing their costs.

Employers continue to slash coverage as their two largest spending items are wages and health benefits. As their cost increases the employer responds by either passing the higher costs to the employee or discontinuing coverage options.

This is another incident of our politicians laying in bed with big corporations. John McCain will do nothing to ease the burden of medical costs for the poor, middle class and working Americans. This plan is ignorantly short-sighted. While other countries around the world are finding ways to protect and cover all of their citizens McCain's plan has no mention of providing coverage for those who live below the poverty line. Hell, his plan won't even benefit the normal American, so why the fuck is it a good plan? Its not, its a fucking disaster is what it is. Take a look at the big oil companies because the pharmaceutical and insurance companies are about to join them in the news with record breaking profits and exhorbinant CEO salaries. I wish I could stick my foot as far up McCain's ass as he's about to do to us.

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