Posted on 05/15/2008 12:33:03 AM PDT by Bob J
Today, In Florida, John McCain Outlined His Plan For Health Care Reform. John McCain believes we can and must provide access to health care for every American. He has proposed a comprehensive vision for achieving that. For too long, our nation's leaders have talked about reforming health care. Now is the time to act.
Americans Are Worried About Health Care Costs.The problems with health care are well known: it is too expensive and 47 million people living in the United States lack health insurance.
John McCain Believes The Key To Health Care Reform Is To Restore Control To The Patients Themselves. We want a system of health care in which everyone can afford and acquire the treatment and preventative care they need. Health care should be available to all and not limited by where you work or how much you make. Families should be in charge of their health care dollars and have more control over care.
John McCain Will Reform Health Care Making It Easier For Individuals And Families To Obtain Insurance. An important part of his plan is to use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety to match people's needs, lower prices, and portability. Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines.
John McCain Will Reform The Tax Code To Offer More Choices Beyond Employer-Based Health Insurance Coverage. While still having the option of employer-based coverage, every family will also have the option of receiving a direct refundable tax credit - effectively cash - of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset the cost of insurance. Families will be able to choose the insurance provider that suits them best and the money would be sent directly to the insurance provider. Those obtaining innovative insurance that costs less than the credit can deposit the remainder in expanded Health Savings Accounts.
John McCain Proposes Making Insurance More Portable. Americans need insurance that follows them from job to job. They want insurance that is still there if they retire early and does not change if they take a few years off to raise the kids.
John McCain Will Encourage And Expand The Benefits Of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) For Families. When families are informed about medical choices, they are more capable of making their own decisions and often decide against unnecessary options. Health Savings Accounts take an important step in the direction of putting families in charge of what they pay for.
John McCain's Plan Cares For The Traditionally Uninsurable. John McCain understands that those without prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions have the most difficulty on the individual market, and we need to make sure they get the high-quality coverage they need.
John McCain Will Work With States To Establish A Guaranteed Access Plan. As President, John McCain will work with governors to develop a best practice model that states can follow - a Guaranteed Access Plan or GAP - that would reflect the best experience of the states to ensure these patients have access to health coverage. One approach would establish a nonprofit corporation that would contract with insurers to cover patients who have been denied insurance and could join with other state plans to enlarge pools and lower overhead costs. There would be reasonable limits on premiums, and assistance would be available for Americans below a certain income level.
John McCain Will Promote Proper Incentives. John McCain will work with Congress, the governors, and industry to make sure this approach is funded adequately and has the right incentives to reduce costs such as disease management, individual case management, and health and wellness programs.
John McCain Proposes A Number Of Initiatives That Can Lower Health Care Costs. If we act today, we can lower health care costs for families through common-sense initiatives. Within a decade, health spending will comprise twenty percent of our economy. This is taking an increasing toll on America's families and small businesses. Even Senators Clinton and Obama recognize the pressure skyrocketing health costs place on small business when they exempt small businesses from their employer mandate plans.
CHEAPER DRUGS: Lowering Drug Prices. John McCain will look to bring greater competition to our drug markets through safe re-importation of drugs and faster introduction of generic drugs.
CHRONIC DISEASE: Providing Quality, Cheaper Care For Chronic Disease. Chronic conditions account for three-quarters of the nation's annual health care bill. By emphasizing prevention, early intervention, healthy habits, new treatment models, new public health infrastructure and the use of information technology, we can reduce health care costs. We should dedicate more federal research to caring and curing chronic disease.
COORDINATED CARE: Promoting Coordinated Care. Coordinated care - with providers collaborating to produce the best health care - offers better outcomes at lower cost. We should pay a single bill for high-quality disease care which will make every single provider accountable and responsive to the patients' needs.
GREATER ACCESS AND CONVENIENCE: Expanding Access To Health Care. Families place a high value on quickly getting simple care. Government should promote greater access through walk-in clinics in retail outlets.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Greater Use Of Information Technology To Reduce Costs. We should promote the rapid deployment of 21st century information systems and technology that allows doctors to practice across state lines.
MEDICAID AND MEDICARE: Reforming The Payment System To Cut Costs. We must reform the payment systems in Medicaid and Medicare to compensate providers for diagnosis, prevention and care coordination. Medicaid and Medicare should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement.
SMOKING: Promoting The Availability Of Smoking Cessation Programs. Most smokers would love to quit but find it hard to do so. Working with business and insurance companies to promote availability, we can improve lives and reduce chronic disease through smoking cessation programs.
STATE FLEXIBILITY: Encouraging States To Lower Costs. States should have the flexibility to experiment with alternative forms of access, coordinated payments per episode covered under Medicaid, use of private insurance in Medicaid, alternative insurance policies and different licensing schemes for providers.
TORT REFORM: Passing Medical Liability Reform. We must pass medical liability reform that eliminates lawsuits directed at doctors who follow clinical guidelines and adhere to safety protocols. Every patient should have access to legal remedies in cases of bad medical practice but that should not be an invitation to endless, frivolous lawsuits.
TRANSPARENCY: Bringing Transparency To Health Care Costs. We must make public more information on treatment options and doctor records, and require transparency regarding medical outcomes, quality of care, costs and prices. We must also facilitate the development of national standards for measuring and recording treatments and outcomes.
John McCain Will Develop A Strategy For Meeting The Challenge Of A Population Needing Greater Long-Term Care. There have been a variety of state-based experiments such as Cash and Counseling or The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) that are pioneering approaches for delivering care to people in a home setting. Seniors are given a monthly stipend which they can use to: hire workers and purchase care-related services and goods. They can get help managing their care by designating representatives, such as relatives or friends, to help make decisions. It also offers counseling and bookkeeping services to assist consumers in handling their programmatic responsibilities.
MYTH: Some Claim That Under John McCain's Plan, Those With Pre-Existing Conditions Would Be Denied Insurance.
FACT: John McCain Supported The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act In 1996 That Took The Important Step Of Providing Some Protection Against Exclusion Of Pre-Existing Conditions.
FACT: Nothing In John McCain's Plan Changes The Fact That If You Are Employed And Insured You Will Build Protection Against The Cost Of Any Pre-Existing Condition.
FACT: As President, John McCain Would Work With Governors To Find The Solutions Necessary To Ensure Those With Pre-Existing Conditions Are Able To Easily Access Care.
YES! This is a big part of reigning in both health insurance costs and health care costs.
Business Week: "McCain's Health-Care Proposal" by Catherine Arnst
The two can never meet.
Is there any way to do so without raising tax, for instance? Would eliminating most of the pork be enough?
... a.k.a. socialized medicine.
Ye gods.
I could care less whether you vote for him or not. I may not vote for him. But I think a sober analysis of his policies is a good start as opposed to the hysteria that has dominated the discussion to date.
The cost of health care for the tens of millions of immigrants that McCain would love to see as citizens is an important part of the discussion you seek. If you want to set all of the parameters for the discussion YOU want to have, perhaps you should simply have folks send you FReepmail so that you can do this in private.
Otherwise, insulting the very people you would like to engage isn't going to take this thread the way you want it to go.
I think what he is addressing is how people in other countries pay less for the same drug than Americans because the pharms sell it to them cheaper while keeping their control and the price high in the US.
You do know that the American consumer underwrites cheap drugs for the rest of the world as it is?
I’m not sure how thatworks but it sounds like state ins companies retain a monoply in each state and cheaper alternatives are not allowed to cross state lines.
If a company in Idaho can offer cheaper coverage to citizens of say CA, why shouldn;t they be allowed to do so?
Well that’s a non starter.
And he evidently has no plans on changing that.
Probably. But at least were talking about it and the average FR participant might be better informed.
That's how I read it... but then they say I'm parsing... LOL!
:D
Did you see the part about "reasonable limits" to premiums? It sounds like caps to me... Why, that's not going to be regulated by the government, is it?
“The cost of health care for the tens of millions of immigrants that McCain would love to see as citizens is an important part of the discussion you seek.”
That would be a good question to ask McCain or his campaign. Why some think it is more productive to whine about it on FR (and then not do a damn thing) is beyond me.
I also don’t know why anyone would think I have the answer.
“Bob, McCains nutty positions on some issues isn’t what ticks people off.”
Of course it does. It ticks me off.
Team Juan's paid online shills are unswervingly loyal believers in the ultimate efficacy of the marvelous, magical Money Fairy. ;)
What light through yonder window breaks? :D
There is no way to put limits on premiums without concurrent cost reductions for the providers. Tort reform would be a good place to start there. Most doctors cannot afford the insurance they have to pay with all the ambulance chasers out there.
I don’t know how much malpractice insurance adds to health costs, but I assume it is significant.
It is very hard hard to ask McCain things on the campaign trail. He isn't in to visiting many places and allowing questions he does not want to answer.
People have been ejected for asking him questions that are hard questions.
One thing I have noticed about McCain, with the easily pre set primary, he is the candidate that only exists in the TV soundbyte, he isn't present like the RATs are in the diners and on the back of pickemups.
Much to his detriment.
Did you know that one of the ways he intends to pay for it is by the reduction and eventual elimination of the insurance deduction for business?
Do you see that once that deduction is removed, insurance through business will be taxed as payroll? Either that means the business is going to pay confiscatory taxes at payroll rates, or the employee is going to be passed the cost?
The avg. business premium is 12k a year, all of which would be passed to the employee as payroll (taxed of course), whereupon the employee/citizen could apply their nifty $2500-$5000 deduction, leaving the citizen/bagholder on the hook for $10.5k-$7k of the premium in after tax dollars. How's that grab you?
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