Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Journal on McCain’s Health Plan, Pt.2 – Group to individual risk pool switcheroo.

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As they explain in further detail, there may be an initial reduction of, maybe, 1 million Americans without health insurance. But this is expected to be short-term. Over then next 5 years, the number of those without health insurance is expected to continually grow to about 5 million. This figure has always been growing since the advent of the Bush administration and will continue to grow. The recent ‘drop’ from 47 million to 45.7 million did not occur naturally, as it happens. The drop was, actually, due to higher enrollment in government-sponsored health insurance programs. The continuation of that ‘positive force’ is not part of Mr. McCain’s agenda. Without the benefit that one-time ‘positive force’, the number of Americans has seen, yet another increase in the numbers. For supporting proof of this little-understood paradox, please refer to the article series entitled: “Counterintuitive Health Headlines”.

McCain’s ultimate goal is to foster "greater equity between the group and individual insurance markets,” as Mr. Sack phrases it. Mr. McCain’s mechanism to achieve this is to remove the tax advantage of employer-based (group) health insurance. A health insurance tax incentive will be offered in it’s place not to exceed $2,500 for individual filers or $5,000 for joint filers. Based on nominal figures, only those individuals earning more than about $25,000 per year and joint filers earning more than $59,000 per year after the Standard Deductions (~$5,350/$10,700) could take full advantage of those credits. Before Standard deductions, they would have to earn ~$30,350 / $69,700 respectively to take full advantage.

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