While everyone is talking about gun toting VP candidates, "lipstick on a pig" and "drill baby drill" the real issues of the economy such as energy independence, foreign policy, education and healthcare take a back seat.
A lesser known issue is the McCain plan for health care.
With the free market and less regulation clearly a failure (Lehman Bros.
, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns, Enron etc.
) the Mc Cain plan would dismantle the employer sponsored group health insurance system by forcing employees out on their own to be insured in the "free market" and take policies that require underwriting, cost sharing, high deductibles and of course, higher premiums.
How so? The group plan would first become taxable to the employee.
The employer would be required to withhold the tax money from the employee's paycheck.
Younger, healthier employees will not want money withheld and will go without insurance or seek an individual health plan for themselves leaving older, less healthy employees on the group plan until the premiums become so expensive the employer drops the plan altogether.
Then the older employees will have to search for individual health insurance in the individual market as well.
And the carrot on the stick? A tax credit in the amount of $2,500 per individual and $5,000 per family allowed to be used to pay for health care and any excess(what excess?) would be deposited into an HSA.
With current premiums in the vicinity of $400 per month individual and $1500 per month family, the tax credit would only provide a bandaid for a hemoraghing family budget where health insurance premiums are now a line item along with food, mortgage, heat, gasoline, school etc..
The McCain plan would attempt to drop all State restrictions and regulations on health insurance so that people would be "free" to take a plan in any state.
This also means that the state regulations that have protected insured individuals for so long would be removed.
Employees would be on their own and unprotected in a free market system designed to profit insurers.
The really scary thing is that this is not a secret.
Look up John McCains website and you'll see the plan.
In the first presidential debate Sen.
Obama brought up the health plan and McCain ignored him but did not bother to respond.
The media have not reported on this at all, yet it potentially affects every person that has a group health plan, including you and your family.
So forget the nonsense about lapel buttons, teenage pregnancy, lipstick, "drill baby drill" etc.
and pay more attention to this proposal because it could cost us all, blue state or red, dearly.
Democrat or republican you must let your local representatives know what you think about this plan.
A lesser known issue is the McCain plan for health care.
With the free market and less regulation clearly a failure (Lehman Bros.
, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns, Enron etc.
) the Mc Cain plan would dismantle the employer sponsored group health insurance system by forcing employees out on their own to be insured in the "free market" and take policies that require underwriting, cost sharing, high deductibles and of course, higher premiums.
How so? The group plan would first become taxable to the employee.
The employer would be required to withhold the tax money from the employee's paycheck.
Younger, healthier employees will not want money withheld and will go without insurance or seek an individual health plan for themselves leaving older, less healthy employees on the group plan until the premiums become so expensive the employer drops the plan altogether.
Then the older employees will have to search for individual health insurance in the individual market as well.
And the carrot on the stick? A tax credit in the amount of $2,500 per individual and $5,000 per family allowed to be used to pay for health care and any excess(what excess?) would be deposited into an HSA.
With current premiums in the vicinity of $400 per month individual and $1500 per month family, the tax credit would only provide a bandaid for a hemoraghing family budget where health insurance premiums are now a line item along with food, mortgage, heat, gasoline, school etc..
The McCain plan would attempt to drop all State restrictions and regulations on health insurance so that people would be "free" to take a plan in any state.
This also means that the state regulations that have protected insured individuals for so long would be removed.
Employees would be on their own and unprotected in a free market system designed to profit insurers.
The really scary thing is that this is not a secret.
Look up John McCains website and you'll see the plan.
In the first presidential debate Sen.
Obama brought up the health plan and McCain ignored him but did not bother to respond.
The media have not reported on this at all, yet it potentially affects every person that has a group health plan, including you and your family.
So forget the nonsense about lapel buttons, teenage pregnancy, lipstick, "drill baby drill" etc.
and pay more attention to this proposal because it could cost us all, blue state or red, dearly.
Democrat or republican you must let your local representatives know what you think about this plan.