McCain to deliver boring new health care plan with more of the same

No wonder this guy is so far behind, but then again, the rest of the GOP team running is clueless about health care as well. If this is his radical new plan to address the "perfect storm" that in his words "will cause our health care system to implode" if not addressed by the next president, then we are in trouble. There are plenty of health insurance companies out there today, all of whom make avoiding payment very profitable for their executives and shareholders, so providing access to even more, well, how is that going to really open up competition?

I think my favorite part of his plan is the old favorite "tax credit" which is somehow supposed to be helpful. Anyone who has ever filled out their 1040 knows that a tax credit of this size is a sorry joke that tries to give you the illusion of being meaningful but we all know it makes such a small amount of difference to most people. McCain and the Republicans still prefer the after-tax tax which means that you pay your taxes and then you pay money out of pocket for crappy and expensive health insurance. Wow, but don't forget about that "tax credit" that is going to save you so much money at the end of the year.

Because you've already paid your standard taxes before you pay out of your own pocket for your insurance, this will be much more expensive compared to a national plan which yes, it is a tax. Big deal, so what if it's a tax? Just because you are not calling it a tax (with McCain's plan) doesn't mean it's not having the same or worse impact on your own personal budget. It's obvious the GOP doesn't understand this point considering their spending binges but money does not just fall from the sky and competition doesn't just happen. Considering how jury-rigged the GOP has made American business (think Halliburton, think telecoms, think health care) this is a bunch of fluff and wishful thinking. They always love to get caught up in words like "tax" and "socialism" instead of focusing on what this means and the actual end result. Grow up and focus on the damned facts.

Looking at the plan that McCain is promoting, you just have to wonder if this is the case of yet another Washington insider who has never filled in a tax form or paid for his own insurance or battled with insurance companies over payments, deductibles and what is even covered. While the GOP all blasts any plan related to the government, they miss the point that if you have a government backbone to the system, this provides you with an enormous tool for leveraging power to negotiate. (Of course, this is an alien concept to the GOP as we discovered with handing out contracts in Iraq, post-Katrina and pharmaceuticals for Medicare.) Importing drugs from Canada or elsewhere is not a long term solution and only burdening the Canadian system and delaying the real issue which is negotiating for pharmaceuticals. Negotiating used to be part of the business process in America but now seems so old fashioned if not useless to the GOP.

People in the real world are looking for a real solution and are fed up with the same tired old plans that have been swirling around for decades. All of the GOP candidates think that if they somehow tweak the system here and there it's going to miraculously save the system but because Washington has foot-dragged for so long, we're well past that stage. The damned thing has been busted and needs to be modernized. Whether we have a pure government run system or a hybrid (as we have here in France, WHO #1 system in the world) is something we need to debate but it's obvious to most that it's time for change. The American health care system has the potential to be great but to any honest observer, it is far from great today and the McCain plan does nothing to change this.