More political garbage...

Okay, so I am sure a ton of people watched the last debate featuring "Joe the Plumber" and an antsy and somewhat crazy looking McCain. With all other issues aside, I have to say the one thing that is driving me nuts about the McCain campaign (well, okay, there is a lot actually) is his catastrophically weak health care proposal. Forgive the ranting I am about to do, but...

Recently I received a five page Word doc. in an anti-Obama e-mail from a McCain supporter that discussed the grandeur of McCain's so called fantastic plan. Here's the thing: From what I understand, McCain is offering $2,500 for each person, $5,000 for each family. In addition to this, he plans to tax employers on insurance for the first time ever. Now, the average amount paid out for health insurance by a family with employer based health insurance is roughly $12,000 and $4,400 for each individual (Health Insurance Costs, 2008). Keep in mind, this is employer based health insurance. The $12,000 and $4,400 is the employee's share. So, employers (who generally receive a better deal on insurance costs because they are part of a larger group) still pay out a lot more money in addition to the $5,000 for a family, or $2,500 for an individual. My employer pays out around $16,000 per family.

John McCain keeps using that $5,000 number, but it's dishonest in a way. Realistically it is $2,500 per person when an employer is paying the rest, so it's just not right to use that number in conjunction with the other, lesser figure of $4,000 for explaining the average cost of insurance. In other words, he is choosing the higher figure (a $5,000 credit) when it makes him look good and the lower (a $4,000 cost of insurance) when it makes him look good. Realistically it looks more like this: He will give you $2,500 per person and the average cost for a person to pay for insurance, under an employer's group discount, is $4,400. Even that amount is deficient of the real price and who pays for that? Additionally, one must also consider the fact that this is only for employer based insurance where my employer pays roughly $16,000 in addition to the $4,000- 5,000 I give them. What about people without employer based insurance? What good will $2,500 do for them?

Furthermore, the tax for employers will cause employers to charge those of us who are offered employer coverage more for our insurance to cover the tax - from what I understand. Other employers may decide they are unable to offer insurance with the additional taxes. I guess I at least owe McCain my gratitude for making me appreciate how lucky I am to have what I have after doing this recent homework on the issue.

Health Insurance Costs. (2008). National Coalition on Health Care. Retrieved October 15, from http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml.