Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Candidates’ Advisers’ Detail, Pt.3 – Rebuttal and summary.

Previous…

With Mr. McCain’s plan, those who elect employer-based health insurance will now have to “pay federal taxes on the cost of the benefit”. To offset this, somewhat, (working) individuals could receive a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for a family). If they decide to lose their employer-based health insurance, they can opt to purchase the more portable private health insurance and apply the tax credit towards that.

For those (who are working) and still can’t afford health insurance, they can apply the tax credit to help out. Ms.Wilensky also shared that Mr. McCain wishes to dissolve state protection mandates by allowing health insurance providers to sell across state lines. As a protection to consumers, this has always been illegal.

Employers, of course, are free to continue offering health insurance or they could, also, give it to employees in the form of boosted wages, Ms. Wilensky explained. (Of course, they could always just keep the money for themselves.) One of the objects of this plan is to force people to pay more if they’re not careful with how much medical care they use. Because the people use less medical care, medical costs will be ‘driven down’

Then countered Mr. Cutler by stating that the meager tax credits wouldn’t begin to cover annual private health insurance premiums for a family, which are “estimated to cost $12,500 per year”. He also had a grave concern with Mr. McCain’s plan about the quick shuffle that could ensue, where great numbers of employers would drop offering health insurance all in the space of a short time and millions more Americans could be without health insurance. He summarized with the wisdom: “You don't burn the house down until you have a new place to live."