Political Comparisons on American Health Care
The largest political football we have ever seen is the health care system in America. Everyone has ideas on how to fix it, and a few try to tinker, but ultimately nothing much happens.
Before you vote you might want to make it a point to do some health care platform comparisons. Not so much as to see who has the best ideas, but who may have some nuggets of change that will bode well for the future of Americans.
Keep one thing in mind when you do those Obama vs. McCain comparisons – changing the health care system is NOT something that can be done overnight. The system is massive, cumbersome and has levels within levels that are all linked together.
Getting anything to change any time soon is virtually futile. It would take more than two stints as president for whomever to even begin to scratch the surface of what needs changing in health care today.
Most of the information you need to make some informed choices is found online on the candidate's websites. Ignore any references to Sarah Palin's lipstick color and you are on your way to comparing some ideas about fixing health care.
McCain for instance takes a shine to importing prescription drugs to reduce costs. This of course won't go over well with Big Pharma, but your wallet might like it, IF it is something that could be accomplished. He also opposes universal health care. This raises questions you need to ask about mandated health care and the ramifications for those who cannot afford it now.
McCain thinks offering refundable tax credits for people will make a difference - $2,500 for singles and $5,000 for families. Ask yourself where this would come from in the first place. The usual answer is your taxes, so really, is this helping you?
McCain also favors opening borders and allowing anyone to buy insurance across state lines and not restricting doctors and other providers to local areas. Neither of these things addresses the rising costs of health care, which in part is due to drug costs and doctors charging what the system will bear.
Obama holds out the priority of affordable, accessible, high quality health care. There isn't much that says how that would be accomplished. He suggests mandating that all children have health coverage. Ask yourself about the costs involved here for those who do not have insurance now.
Obama favors a national public health care insurance program where people could buy affordable health insurance. Again, not much available on how that would be accomplished. He also supports universal health care and buying prescription drugs in bulk to lower costs. There is no mention of generic versus brand name drugs.
Obama wants all employers to contribute to health coverage for their employees or pay towards a public plan. Many employers are trying to reduce the costs of health care, not increase it. He suggests hospitals need to be graded on performance and streamline their record keeping for higher efficiency. In addition, he makes the suggestion that a national health insurance exchange program would reform private markets. There isn't a lot of information on how this would be achieved.
Ask others you know about these ideas, talk to local insurance agents who know the industry inside out. You may find out some interesting information you were not aware of prior to casting your vote.
To learn more, visit Benepath.com
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