Medical Care, McSame and Insurance

Report Questions Quality of Medical Care
for Workers in War Zones

WaPo:

An increasing number of federal employees are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is not clear that the government's policies go far enough to ensure they receive the best medical care or the most appropriate benefits, according to a congressional report released yesterday. [Wed.]

The report was issued by the House Armed Services Committee oversight and investigations subcommittee, which looked into the incentives and medical coverage being provided to civil service employees.

McCain’s Health Care Plan: Increases Taxes, Decreases Coverage

AFL-CIO:

McCain wants to address our nation’s health care crisis by merely shifting costs around—and millions of people would pay higher health care costs as a result. McCain would tax health care benefits as income and push more people out of group insurance pools and into the often-predatory private market. In short, McCain would increase our taxes and ensure fewer of us could afford quality health care.

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McCain’s health care plan, as it currently exists, wouldn’t lower costs or expand coverage. Instead, through changing the tax system for health benefits, it could result in many employers cutting off health benefits altogether.

How to Talk About Health Care

AlterNet:

The health care debate is not about right versus left. It's about McCain's radical scheme to dump our employer-provided health coverage into a ditch.

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In the case of McCain's proposal, the key fact is that the tax provisions will encourage companies to drop health insurance as an employer-provided benefit.

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Put another way, the McCain plan will cause businesses to drop health care benefits like a rotten egg from a picnic basket. The argument for McCain depends on the idea that once they cut health care benefits, corporations will increase our salaries to offset our loss! And no persuadable voter in America will believe this. So if you're middle-class in America, this plan should scare the sox off of you. This is Bush economics on steroids!

Getting married for health insurance

L A Times:

Some people marry for love, some for companionship, and others for status or money. Now comes another reason to get hitched: health insurance.

In a poll released today, 7% of Americans said they or someone in their household decided to marry in the last year so they could get healthcare benefits via their spouse.

"It's a small number but a powerful result, because it shows how paying for healthcare is reflected not only in family budgets but in life decisions," said Drew E. Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which commissioned the survey as part of its regular polling on healthcare.

On a broader scale, the survey found that healthcare costs outranked housing costs, rising food prices and credit card bills as a source of concern. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they had experienced serious problems because of the cost of healthcare, compared with 29% who had problems getting a good job or a raise. Gasoline prices were the top economic worry, with 44% saying they had serious problems keeping up with increases at the pump.