Candidate Health-Care Plans
Over the past week, I have been asked by many clients and associates “what is the difference in the health-care plans for each candidate?” Many people believed that Obama was proposing a Universal or Socialized Plan or that McCain wanted to do away with group based health coverage (neither of which are true by the way).
The News and Observer published a simple comparison last week. So, I decided to share some of their points here. It offers a quick look at the differences - and at the end of the day, both candidates offer us a chance for “change,” but also allow us the opportunity to keep what we have.
Highlights of Obama’s Plan:
- Require large and midsize companies to provide health-care coverage or pay a fee into a special fund that would help create a public health plan patterned after what federal employees enjoy. Workers could continue to get their coverage through their employers or choose the new federal plan.
- Subsidize the purchase of health insurance by the uninsured, buying coverage through the new federal health plan or the private sector.
- Require parents or caretakers to purchase health insurance for all children, stopping short of a mandate for universal coverage but seeking universal access to health care.
Highlights of McCain’s Plan:
- Treat employer-sponsored health insurance as income and tax it to level the playing field for people who must purchase their own coverage.
- Offset this new taxation by giving working-age citizens a refundable tax credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families, encouraging the uninsured to buy insurance.
- Allow insurance companies to sell policies across state lines to promote competition.
- Create insurance pools for high-risk workers who have pre-existing health problems such as asthma, diabetes and cancer.
- Provide subsidies for workers who are forced, because of health problems, to seek coverage in the high-risk insurance pool.
Check ou the article at The News and Observer http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1269295.html
Yes We Can!