What’s On The Table? McCain Adviser Pledges To Trim Health Benefits
What’s On The Table? McCain Adviser Pledges To Trim Health Benefits
In an exchange with the Dallas Morning News, McCain health policy adviser John Goodman admitted that McCain’s plan to give families $5,000 to buy health insurance would drive Americans into scantier coverage:
The tax credit “would not subsidize bells and whistles [marriage counseling, acupuncture, etc.] as the current system does,” Mr. Goodman said in an e-mail.
Goodman’s comments echo the McCain campaign’s false ‘caviar health care’ argument — which compares “Americans’ use of the health care system to shoppers who indiscriminately buy caviar while someone else foots the bill” — and fundamentally misrepresent the causes of rising health care costs.
Despite the campaign’s insistence that an over-reliance on “marriage counseling” and “acupuncture” is driving-up health care costs, the fact remains that 80 percent of the health care costs “are incurred by the sickest twenty percent of Americans, those whose doctors order expensive treatments for difficult diseases such as cancer” — “acupuncture” or “marriage counseling” are rarely prescribed.
In fact, with family insurance premiums exceeding $12,000, it’s unclear which services Goodman would be willing to trim to get to $5,000. Which half should go? Wellness and prevention programs? Cancer screening and testing? Maternity care?
But with McCain, “everything is on the table.”
3 Responses to “What’s On The Table? McCain Adviser Pledges To Trim Health Benefits”
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I find it hard to accept advice about saving money from someone who takes federal handouts despite being a millionaire.
I had minor surgery a couple years ago and crunched the numbers to see what it had cost the insurance company. I was surprised to find that even with that operation and the doctor visits that preceded and followed, I still had paid more in health insurance premiums than the insurance company had paid for my care.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pmEmployees already pay $3,300 annually for their health insurance benefit and 20% in out of pocket costs. So that medical caviar isn’t anywhere near free.
McCain wants you to pay all of it.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:28 pmThis whole McCain clique reminds me of a bunch of rich guys who are out of touch on virtually every subject which affects the average American worker or citizen. Using relatively rarely used services like acupuncture to justify the gutting of any help for massively expensive health care for an aging population and overburdened middle class. I am willing to bet that McCain takes full advantage of the Senate’s health care program (I was at one time a Senate employee) despite the fact that he is very wealthy and could afford to pay for his health care. And as president he would receive the very best health care on the taxpayer’s tab. If these guys had their way they would continue to pile the burdens on the working class until the economy collapses. We are already wasting 12 billion dollars a month on an unnecessary war but what are they crying about as being wasteful? paltry health care benefits, the bulk of which is being paid by patients, not the government. Oh, how I distrust McCain and his ilk, who have no idea how to fairly govern. He is an admitted economic novice (although he later denied admitting it) who would put us in the poorhouse far beyond 2017. Do not vote for this man!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:20 pm