Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

McCain's Health Insurance Solution -- What does it mean?

In an effort to unravel some of the confusion in understanding the underlying ramifications of the latest stir in the news, here is an excerpt of Jacob Goldstein’s editorial. It has been expressed that McCain’s plan justifies itself by allowing “the invisible hand of the market” to sort out the mess with our nation’s health insurance woes. McCain’s plan is to award the tax breaks away from employers who sponsor health insurance plans and award them to the individual (and their families). The theory is that employers will continue offering the same support as they do now, even without the tax incentive and that employees can now choose between what they have now or something better from the open market.

Almost inevitably, the fact is that many employers with either revert to lesser (cheaper) health insurance plans or drop them altogether as a result. Now, an even greater portion of our population will now be faced with buying health insurance plans according to the “open market” heavy-hand axiom that causes the buyer to pay as much as the supply/demand intersect demands for essential necessities (as much of our health care industry is already doing). It’s a little like ancient days in Rome, where fire departments were privately-owned and unregulated. The “fire trucks” would arrive on the scene as the villa burned, but do nothing until the “fair market price” was negotiated.

The extreme down side should be obvious. As the Wall Street Journal puts it…” The plan isn’t likely to do much about the number of uninsured Americans”. These people are largely uninsured because they can’t afford the current rates. To this end, McCain states he will “create a guaranteed access plan for those who have a hard time finding coverage”. As the Washington Post puts it “…details are sketchy”. Funny word ‘access’ viewed the ‘sketchy’ lens. Does this mean “guaranteed health insurance availability for those who can’t afford it”?