I've made Google my friend, but I still need help re: McCain's healthcare plan.

[msallied]

I read the Factcheck.org article and a few others, but I still need help understanding exactly WHY John McCain has to tax employer healthcare contributions in order to pay for a supposed $5000 tax credit incentive to get people to purchase insurance policies. If people ALREADY have health insurance that is private and paid for by their employers, WHY does he want to mess with that? Isn't what we're aiming to do is getting uninsured people covered? Why fuck with the people who are ALREADY insured! Why is he trying to encourage employers to drop their healthcare benefits? That will only put MORE people out of health insurance and the people who are already uninsured will remain that way.

It just doesn't make any sense. Why not simply just give middle-class taxpayers health insurance if they're already going to be taxing people harder anyway?

I know that people here won't exactly be agreeing with the plan, but I'm finding it difficult to see any sort of argument that makes this plan look any less than disastrous. What is McCain thinking??

[TheKentuckian]

1. Isn't it obvious? They want to squeeze the life out of

everyone that isn't in the top 5%.

They're shooting to make health insurance a part of your income in a real and practical sense and further depress wages for the majority of people.

[msallied]

4. That's the thing, though! Health insurance is already part of our income!

We get deducted eighty dollars out of every paycheck to cover insurance costs. While I realize that's a hell of a lot cheaper than most private insurance plans, we're still contributing money. And that doesn't even figure in deductibles and/or co-pays. Jesus, I just don't get why he wants to even GO there! It's pure evil, in my opinion.

It's one thing to tax people higher is society is going to experience a positive benefit. It's a whole other if it's a tax created simply to punish and/or discourage something that is helping MILLIONS of families and individuals. Ugh!

[PA Democrat]

7. McCain's plan will tax the amount your employer contributes to pay for your health insurance.

So, for example, your employer pays $500 a month for your insurance, and you pay $150, at the end of the year, McCain would add to your taxable income the $6,000 that your employer contributed toward the cost of your insurance ($500 x 12 months).

[Vinca]

2. But, but, but . . . McBush sez only Obama will raise your taxes.

:rofl:

[ramapo]

3. Everybody gets a credit

I thought it was only people buying insurance outside of employer supplied insurance.
I guess the $5000 credit is to help offset the tax increase on people with employer-supplied plans.

McCain asys if you can find "innovative" coverage for less than the credit, you get to keep the difference! What a joke.

It sounds like he is just making a complex, unfair system even more so. I don't get it either.

All I know is that it isn't going to help me, not when insurance costs closer to $20K/yr.

[msallied]

5. The problem is, it's going to encourage employers to drop health care benefits

Especially if they are going to be taxed to death on their contributions. It might not affect employees of large corporations, but it will definitely affect small businesses in a big way. It just pisses me off!

[blondeatlast]

9. BIG benefits to Big Insurance, Americans screwed. Forcing them out of group policies means American

have to cough up WAAAAAY more for the same coverage; likely 50-60% more than they pay through their employer.

And of course most employers are looking for any excuse to drop medical benefits; they cost employers big time but employers can't compete for workers without them.

It gets worse for those with chronic health conditions like me (insulin dependent diabetes). We'll have to pay MUCH< MUCH more if we can get coverage at all.

The only entities that benefit from this are Big Insurance. Period.

[msallied]

18. This makes me so effing MAD! Grrrr....

How much more BLATANTLY corporatist and anti-Middle Class that this asshole get?!?! Honestly!

[johnaries]

12. EXACTLY! NOW you get it!

Employers get a group discount. They want you to buy it individually so you don't get the group discount.

[doc03]

13. I don't think you understand, he is going to tax (you)

for the premiums your employer pays. If the employer pays $12000 a year it will be added to your income Example: If you make $50000 add insurance premium $62000 taxable income. A f-----g Republican isn't going to tax the employer he is going to tax us..

[msallied]

17. Bloody effing hell. Thank you for clarifying that!

See, nothing I was reading was coming right out and putting it that plainly, and I was afraid that was what the actual plan was. Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick. :(

[EC]

6. That's all he's got

that's his plan...there fixed! Oh yeah, there aren't any uninsured either, because there are emergancy rooms...

[Bread and Circus]

8. The ultimate goal is to "consumerize" health care and get corporations

off the hook.

It's a fantasy that will never work, mainly for the fact that the people that need it most won't be able to afford it.

[dflprincess]

10. Neither candidate has a healthcare plan

they both have health insurance plans (though Obama does want to expand SCHIP). I don't see where either plan would do anything but keep the for profit insurers happy.

[blondeatlast]

11. I'll take a flawed plan over a disaster that INCREASES the uninsured (esp the most needy)

any day. McCain's plan would force employers to dismantle group benefits entirely (which they'd already love to do) and that would dramatically increase Big Insurance profits and people like me (insulin dependent diabetic) wouldn't be able to even get private insurance.

[dflprincess]

15. Agreed

but we're probably better off with what we have now until we can get real reform through Congress. And real reform will not include protecting the incomes of the CEOs of outfits like United HealthCare or Blue Cross.

[blondeatlast]

16. Totally agree; I've been a single payer advocate for years. But right now we have two choices:

better than now and a disaster.

[doc03]

14. You may be right but you aren't going to

get the health care plan you want unless you get overwhelming numbers in the Congress and win the Presidential election and kill all the Insurance industry lobbyist off..