Health4all : John McCain's Plan for Health Care Reform.

Health4all

Every year more Alaskan families lose health insurance and can't afford health care. Every year more families with health insurance cannot afford to use it because of expensive out-of-pocket charges. Every year more Alaskan elders with Medicare are refused treatment by local physicians. And every year health care in Alaska continues to cost 30 percent more than down south. These problems are a reflection of the crisis across the nation. Not surprisingly, the United States ranks last in preventable deaths compared to 14 Western European nations. We have a lot to talk about.

Lawrence D. Weiss retired from UAA in 2004 as a research professor in public health. He designed and built the Master of Public Health program at UAA, and has published three books and numerous articles on public health and health policy issues. He completed a post-doctoral degree at Harvard School of Public Health in 1982, and has been in Alaska ever since. His favorite expression is "facts matter." Occasionally he can be found in a local pub drinking beer and eating pizza while engaged in passionate conversation with friends.

John McCain's Plan for Health Care Reform.

Posted by health4all

Posted: September 6, 2008 - 7:44 am

Here are the highlights of John McCain's plan for health care reform (Obama plan to come). We will talk about the details at a later time, and explain some of the concepts and facts which might not be entirely clear, but at least here is a concise summary:

Eliminatlon of current tax excluslon for employer-paid health lnsurance premlums [in other words, you will be required to pay taxes on health insurance provided by your employer--a new tax which is not required now]

Using revenues generated from eliminatlng the tax exclusion, provision of refundable tax credits ($2,500 for individuals, $5,000 for families) for all persons obtaining private health insurance. If lnsurance costs less than the value of the credit, remalnlng funds can be deposited into health savings accounts

Creatlon of guaranteed access plan to provide lnsurance pool for persons who are
medically uninsurable on the individual market

Promotlon of individually purchased insurance and less comprehenslve insurance
policies

Deregulatlon of insurance markets