I am simply shocked that McCain's Health Insurance Plan is not
getting more attention. It is absolutely disastrous.
McCain's plan is to tax group health insurance provided by
employers. It is a truly massive tax increase on the working and
middle class at a time when many Americans cannot afford to pay for
both gas and their mortgage payments. It will literally eliminate
health insurance for tens of millions of Americans. Let me explain
why. Right now, many employers subsidize the cost of health
insurance. A decent family policy costs about $1,000 per month and
a decent individual policy about $500 per month. Many employers pay
about two third of the cost, although some pay all for the employee
themselves. The employee doesn't pay tax on either the employee
contribution (taken out of paychecks in pre-tax dollars) or the
employer contribution. So whoever pays it - it is tax free. McCain wants to reverse that and tax the entire policy
premium. It will drive maybe half of Americans that get group
policies out of those policies. Here's why: Let's say a police
officer makes $45,000 per year but gets family health coverage that
costs $1,000 per month. The officer will still be getting paid
$3,750 per month but will be getting taxed as if their income was
$4,750 per month. Their take home pay will drop about $400 per
month. Who can afford that? Nobody. So either the individual cops
will drop their coverage or the police department will just get rid
of the group policy altogether and leave the officers to buy their
own individual policies That's where McCain claims the free market will come in. He
proposes offering a $2,500 per individual/$5,000 per family annual
tax credit to buy individual health insurance policies. Problem is

• this solution stinks. Here's why: 1. Health insurers are allowed to engage in health

underwriting for individual policies, something they cannot do by
law for group policies. What that means is they will only accept
young people with no health history. Most people over 40 will be
turned down because of some kind of pre-existing condition. How
many middle aged people have no health history -- no back injuries,
no high cholesterol or blood pressure, no ovarian cysts or abnormal
mammograms, no work related injuries, no excess weight . . . ? Very
few. 2. Even for the lucky few that will be able to find
individual coverage, roughly $400 per month for family coverage or
$200 per month for individual coverage will not come close to
buying decent coverage on the private market. Even double that will
only buy a lousy policy with big deductibles and all manner of
exclusions and caps. The vast majority of people who find
themselves in McCain's new club of the uninsured will simply give
up, go without insurance and pray each day they never get sick
again. Eventually they (or someone in their family) will, and they
will be wiped out financially. McCain's plan will mean health insurance companies get to
decide who in this country have health insurance -- in other words,
only the young and healthy. Period. McCain's plan will have a disastrous effect on one of the
biggest problems we have -- the growing numbers of uninsured
Americans. I am simply amazed it is not getting more attention.