This writer has been accused of feeding into class envy, but Ninjanurse has nothing on Senator John McCain. He’s invented a new elite group to resent.
Fielding follow-up questions from Friday night’s presidential debate, the Republican nominee also conceded that his health care plan might raise taxes, saying “it depends on, on, on what plan they have. But that’s usually the wealthiest people.”
When pressed by Stephanopoulos on whether his health care tax credits will be large enough to compensate for his proposal to eliminate tax breaks, McCain explained, “Actually, my position is that it will be, it will give people actually more money to go out and purchase tax — health insurance on their own and only those with the Cadillac gold-plated health insurance policies today are the ones who might suffer from it.”
The funny thing about health care is that it’s a Cadillac no one wants to ride in. You’re not soaking up a lot of insurance money when you’re well. It’s when surgeons start cutting things off and talking about survival odds that you collect big from your insurance plan. And your survival odds are way worse if you don’t have insurance.
The McCain plan would give people a refundable tax credit ($2,500 for an individual; $5,000 for a family) to buy insurance through work or on their own. In exchange, the value of health benefits would be subject to income taxes. Wall St. Journal
If you have the bad luck to be sick $2,500 won’t buy you a policy. They don’t have to sell you one. You have a ‘pre-existing condition’ and it might be catching.
And the $5,000 family benefit won’t help if you have a sick kid. You’ll need enough money to buy a fleet of Cadillacs before that kid turns 18.
Our Republican candidates should know that. A 72 year old cancer survivor, Senator McCain, would have collected a good hunk of money from his insurers. If he is on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program as a member of Congress he’d have such good coverage he’d have time to get well. But I heard a clip from a speech where he speaks very scornfully of government health care, so maybe he and Mrs. McCain paid his medical bills in cash. He’s a man of principle, and I know he wouldn’t ask poorer Americans to search for affordable healthcare if he had not been through it himself. I’ll bet he doesn’t use the Vet’s Hospital either. That’s government.
Another Cadillac Ambulance rider would be Governor Palin and her family. The Palins are reported to have assets of $1.2 million, but that’s not enough to cover all the care that their son Trig will need in order to reach his full potential. They’ll need to make claims on their insurance, and their school district for special education, and social services. His needs are likely to increase as he gets older.
We have a health care crisis that is such a mess it’s not fair to call it a system. Systems are organized and make sense.
But we have to face it honestly. Pretending that picking a neurosurgeon is like picking a hairdresser is dishonest. And inventing a class of people who are basking in Cadillac health insurance is not going to fool anyone who has ever had to deal with real illness.
Kmareka.com 
Nancy-I use the Veteran’s Hospital for virtually all my health care-they are excellent and they are a teaching hospital for Brown Medical School,so you know they are quality-conscious.The West Roxbury VA is a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School,and when I got treated there,it was like I was a VIP and that was routine-they have very good medical personnel in both locations.
I have an idea for making medical expenses easier to handle.
It involves an adjustment to income much like moving expenses on the federal income tax.It would include all necessary(no face lifts,etc.)medical,dental,pharmaceutical,and healthcare premium costs.This way it would be an upfront adjustment of income rather than a deduction subject to a percentage of income and available only to those who itemize.This plan would be available to anyone filing a return and would be income neutral as those with the most medical expense burden would receive the biggest adjustment.
If someone usually filed an EZ form,they could use a short form instead if they had medical expenses.
The savings on taxes could be used to pay for insurance,copays,deductibles,etc.
A nice aspect is that there would be no new bureauracy established-it would be part of the existing tax process.
A cure-all?No.But a stopgap that might result in substantial savings for a lot of sick people.
Every time I mention this to a politician,they look or sound hesitant-youy know why?Less revenue for them to squander-they cannot stand for the average American to make important decisions on the use of their income.
what do you say about keeping a watch on the insurance companies? people usually don’t know about the gaps in their insurance until they get sick.
glad that the Vets gave you such good care. the Veterans I see often complain, but I met some good doctors and nurses at the Providence Vets Hospital when I was working in AIDS clinical studies.
Keeping a watch on insurance companies?Amen to that!!
The vets who were dissatisfied-were they receiving treatment for emotional problems or physical problems?(or both)
I never needed their mental health services,so I can’t speak to that,but the people who treated me for cancer,diabetes,and CAD couldn’t have been better.
I had a severe life-threatening hemorrhage about a year ago and spent a while in ICU-I felt like I was rleated to them or something,was how good they were.
i’m glad you got good care. i think all Americans should have access to decent care and we owe our Veterans the best. the Vets I talked to who complained had trouble with the phone system in Providence, and had their doctors rotate frequently so they felt like they never were sure who was in charge of their care. still, the Vets Hospital has a pharmacy that sends meds by mail and huge resources. A lot of them chose to see a private doctor, under Medicare, and see a doctor at the Vets once a year, which was allowed.
The issue of rotating doctors-I have a recurrent cancer which is not highly aggressive,but not really curable,and I’ve had four operations in the last year.The residents have changed from visit to visit,but the attending surgeon and ENT specialist have remained the same throughout,which is important with that type of disease.They make the major treatment decisions,not the residents.The residents are learning,but I have found them to be very good.
I do get my eye care from an outside doctor on my medical plan from my former job,which I have to carry because my wife’s job didn’t let her take her coverage when she retired.
I amglad you mentioned the VA pharmacy-they use clinical pharmacists in the primary care department,which are not often found in outside hospitals or health centers on the East Coast-the clinical pharmacists are great adjuncts to the doctors and can prescribe/adjust/change medications based on their specialized knowledge.
The phone system,like all phone tree systems is indisputably hard to deal with.The trick is to get your provider to give you the direct extension.
I don’t believe either candidate has any good,workable plan for health care.No surprise.
I just met a man who has a dire diagnosis and he said that he wants to go back to the British Isles where he would have National Health. He has insurance here, Medicaide, but his fear is that he won’t get palliative care and will die in pain. In the anarchic US health ‘system’ some people get extreme measures they probably would refuse if able, some are denied basic preventive care, and some get medical miracles and survive and thrive. it’s a gamble. I think the benefits of primary and catastrophic medical care for everyone would outweigh the cost and limits. that’s how the Vets works, government program, huge patient base, bargaining power.
Huge patient base-bargaining power-you just nailed it.When I worked for the US Government it was the same-a very large number of employees makes the insurance carriers less cocky and much more amenable on rates and benefits.
An individual or small business may as well go swimming with sharks smeared with blood.
My sister in law and her husband owned a samll business and for amny years couldn’t afford health insurance-and they had two daughters-very risky.
Once they finally got it-her husband had a heart attack-he survived in good shape,but it was a good thing they had the insurance.
I wish I could think of an answer that would actually work,but I’m not that smart.
How much do you think fraud and overcharging are responsible for the state of health care in the US?
fraud and overcharging are a part of the problem, but not most of it. i think at heart, health care for profit doesn’t serve people well.
your two examples of government health insurance that works show a way out. universal health insurance, cutting out the middleman, will work better. nothing is perfect, but as things stand now, there’s no incentive for prevention. you can’t get affordable preventive care, but when your health is ruined you can go on disability. there are many people who would be working and paying taxes if they had gotten care when they needed it–a personal tragedy and economic mess.
I can’t disagree,but I certainly think medical professionals(including RN’s)should be compensated very well.I frequently tell people who think doctors make too much-“next time you’re circling the bowl,go get an entertainer to help you”.
Now if you mean cut out the profit for the non-medical side of things,okay.
Drug companies won’t produce without making a profit.In spite of criticism,drug companies come up with some great stuff(and some not so great stuff)-this is all very complicated.
when i have to organize some aspect of nursing administration for an employer, my first thought is– who can I steal from? it’s hugely inefficient to build something from scratch when someone else has already got a framework I can adapt to my needs.
I think we should steal the Canadian health care system. the Canadians would never suspect, and if they figure it out they are unlikely to declare war on us. they are a forgiving people.
Of course if you are rich like McCain you don’t have to worry about Health Insurance because besides his health care taken care of by the Military Services or the VA or by the US Senate his doesn’t cost anything for himself or family because he can be carried on his rich wife’s policy. Only the poor and working classes have to worry where they will get there health care from and whom is going to pay for it. McCain’s Health care plan is all wet and those that buy into his plan have a huge awakening coming as they will be paying for it out there own pocket and paying taxes on top of that as though that it is more income.