The McCain-Palin Health Care Plan

The McCain-Palin motto for the 2008 presidential race is:

Country First: Reform Prosperity Peace.

Below is the truth about the McCain-Palin Health Care Plan that clears up the misconceptions of the republican party's Health care plan, without the political bias.

According to the John McCain, Sara Palin and their advisers, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have consistently lied to Americans about McCain's health care plan.
Here is what they say:

According to McCain and Palin, their health are plan will:

• Give More Health Care Plan choices
• Provide greater tax benefits
• Strengthen employer coverage of health care
• NOT raise taxes on middle class families
• The McCain plan will result in average tax benefits of $1,200 for American families

According to Obama and Biden, the McCain-Palin health care plan will:

• Cause higher taxes
• Provide less benefits
• Harm employer coverage
• John McCain will tax health benefits for the first time. It will also be the largest middle class tax increase in history.

What McCain says about his health care plan
According to McCain, Obama's beef is that his health plan focuses on the fact that the value of the employer insurance provided, will not show up as additional income for the employees.

McCain counters, that Obama fails to mention that his plan to provide a refundable tax credit ($5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals), will actually give Americans more dollars to invest in their health care needs.

According to McCain, the plan does not tax the premiums paid by families and individuals, or employers who provide health care coverage, or does it tax medical expenses (cost of medical procedures or medication) or even insurance claims.

McCain points out that Obama's own advisor, Jason Furman, wrote "that we scrap the current deduction altogether and replace it with progressive tax credits that, together with other changes, would ensure that every American has affordable health insurance".


According to McCain, under his Plan, your employer can provide you with health insurance (approximately $12,000), and you would pay no more in taxes – regardless of your tax bracket. In fact, you would have additional money left over from the McCain tax credit to put in a health savings account.


IN A NUTSHELL
in a nutshell, this complex health care plan will benefit the middle class. Case in point: if you are in the 28% tax bracket, and make $180,000, you could receive employer provided health insurance at a cost of $18,000, with no increase in taxes. This plan will result in an average "tax benefit" of more than $1,200 for the average tax payer.


McCain Plan as it relates to MEDICARE
John McCain believes that we can get savings without reducing benefits or eligibility in Medicare by:

• Promoting payment reform
• Eliminating fraud and abuse
• Ensuring drug premiums of the wealthiest Americans are not subsidized by the middle and lower class
• Promoting treatment models that reward prevention and wellness
• Reduce drug costs by allowing greater use of generic drugs

TAXING HEALTH CARE BENEFITS
John McCain refutes the idea that his Health Care plan will tax health care benefits for the first time, and send the money directly to the insurance companies. But what Obama fails to mention is that the credit goes to the insurance company that the American family chooses to get coverage from - providing the power of choice with the family - not the government or insurance companies... according to John McCain.


PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
McCain refutes Obama's contention that his plan will result in Americans with pre-existing conditions to not being able to find coverage. His plan is to work with governors to develop a practical model that states can follow (coined the GAP plan - Guaranteed Access Plan) to use best experience of each state to ensure coverage for those with pre-existing conditions - with limits on premiums.


DAMAGING EMPLOYER PROVIDED INSURANCE
The McCain-Palin plan disagrees with the Obama camp that this health care plan will damage employer provided insurance for millions of Americans. The republicans counter, that employers will have the same incentive to provide health insurance as they do today, because they will continue to deduct the cost of health insurance they provide to employees.


McCain-Palin plan - Case in Point
Assume a 25-year-old employee, in the 25 percent tax bracket, with a $2,500 tax credit, could either purchase a policy in the individual market for the same amount or stay with his employer plan and receive a $5,000 policy with an additional $1,250 to invest in a portable health savings account.


Conclusion
It is difficult to determine what plan is best, but it is important that the opinions of both parties are presented by a neutral source. This blog just reports the facts and tries to present it in layman's terms.