[NPInfo] McCain the Health radical?

Fri Aug 1 14:03:33 PDT 2008

No and Yes.
Why?
Because today those with better insurance get better healthcare. If  
there were one level of insurance, at least all Americans would get  
the same level of care. Unless they wanted to pay out of pocket., All  
would really be spread out evenly but at least the country would be  
healthier. Let me explain.......
I pay 50% of total prescription costs. This after getting samples for  
years........(ironic) I had to pick up a prescription last month for  
$300.00.
So now my Lipitor and my Prevacid cost a fortune. My friends save  
samples for me but what kind of crazyness is that?
If I did not have friends, what then. My co-pay is $30.00 to see a  
clinician even just to get a referral, even though I can refer myself.  
I can see how people who have insurance don't go for care. Imagine,  
$30.00 for the visit, $150.00 for the meds then maybe a specialist for  
another $30.00. Of course there are kids to worry about and other  
things so that $200.00 never gets spent and I get sicker. That's AFTER  
$18,000 a year out of pocket costs.
What total waste of healthcare dollars when the patient never shows up  
because they can't afford to.
Dave

On Aug 1, 2008, at 4:43 PM, Joanne DaCunha wrote:

> I'm not completely versed on this issue but when I read your concern I
> thought...wait. someone has to pay for it somewhere along the line.  
> So,
> if it is not included in product costs (because companies pass the  
> cost
> on to consumers) it's included in higher taxes. Using your example,
> then, the $80,000 in your profits that are lost are spread among  
> people
> not in your business or using your product. Is my logic off here?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: npinfo-bounces at nurse.net [mailto:npinfo-bounces at nurse.net] On
> Behalf Of David Mittman
> Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 4:00 PM
> To: NP Info
> Subject: Re: [NPInfo] McCain the Health radical?
>
> Stephanie: Totally agree.
> As a former employer, there were some advantages but IN NO WAY did  
> they
> make up for giving healthcare to our employees. It cost us over  
> $100,000
> a year but we believed that we owed it to people. As the price has  
> gone
> up, less and less employers believe they owe it to their people. We
> covered the entire family also, but that was 5-6 years ago. As it  
> costs
> more and people have less of an expectation, less will give coverage.
> I have said this before but if I open an IT company in NY State and  
> have
> 4 people working for me, I need $80,000 OF MY PROFIT to cover them.  
> If I
> start the same business in Canada, I need $0.00 profit to cover my
> employees.
> Knowing enough about business, which business do you think will  
> succeed
> over the first crucial few years? Multiply that by a million  
> businesses
> and you will see how handicapped we are in the USA.
> Dave
> On Aug 1, 2008, at 2:38 PM, Stephanie Walker wrote:
>
>> I'm no financial whiz, but doesn't this mean you'll still pay $18,000
>> for lousy health care, just pay $2500 less to the IRS so your net
>> health insurance premiums would then only total $13,500 for lousy
>> health care? That looks like the wimpiest of incremental reforms I  
>> can
>
>> imagine. Why doesn't any of these politicians take on the big private
>> insurance companies? (Actually, we know why not-- lobbyists and
>> campaign funding.)
>>
>>
>> Again, I'm showing my ignorance, but I'm thinking there is a built-  
>> in
>
>> incentive in the present pre-tax dollar system, for employers to fund
>> their employees' health care premiums, but I can't remember how that
>> works. If that's true, if it's legislated out of existence, and
>> employers have no incentive to offer health care benefits, wouldn't
>> that just make the situation even worse? THose insured now thru their
>> jobs could lose their benefits.
>>
>> Stephanie Walker, FNP
>>
>> On Jul 31, 2008, at 10:44 PM, David Mittman wrote:
>>
>>> I pay close to $18,000 a year in after tax dollars for the worst
>>> health care coverage I have ever had.
>>>
>>> July 30, 2008, 9:06 am
>>> Why McCain Is the Radical on Health
>>> Posted by Jacob Goldstein
>>> John McCain "is proposing the most fundamental health-care reform"
>>> of the presidential campaign, a McCain adviser argues in an op-ed in
>>> this morning's WSJ.
>>>
>>> This struck us as a rather surprising argument, given that Barack
>>> Obama's proposal includes mandating insurance for all children and
>>> creating a national public insurance program to cover those who  
>>> don't
>
>>> have access to insurance through their employers.
>>>
>>> The op-ed, John C. Goodman of the National Center for Policy
>>> Analysis, focuses on McCain's proposed changes to the tax code,  
>>> which
>
>>> constitute the main thrust of his health plan.
>>>
>>> Goodman writes that the current system is "extremely arbitrary,"
>>> because it allows employers to pay for health insurance with pre-  
>>> tax
>
>>> dollars, but doesn't extend that break to the growing number of
>>> people whose employers don't provide insurance.
>>>
>>> McCain's plan would get rid of the tax break for employer-sponsored
>>> insurance, and replace it with a fixed insurance tax credit - $2,500
>>> for individuals, $5,000 for families - that people could use whether
>>> or not they get their insurance through work.
>>>
>>> This would create a "fairer, more efficient system with a much  
>>> better
>
>>> chance of insuring the uninsured and controlling health costs at the
>>> same time," Goodman argues.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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