Good little lord fauntleroy, but this has been a fluffy month in politics! Remember how I quit reading the news for a month? Well, it was awesome… I did a lot of other fun and interesting things with my time, and when I started reading blogs ‘n’ such again I was stunned at how trivial everything was that I’d missed. I vowed to read fewer blogs, read fewer fluffy articles in newspapers, and generally be a More Civilized Person.
Well, that lasted a few weeks, and then I slipped back into “dumb mode” where I mindlessly click on any stupid thing that Andrew Sullivan posts… really, that guy is the worst. I should vow never to go there again… BUT HE’S LIKE PRINGLES! Once you pop, you can’t stop.
Anywho, I’m telling you all this because I found something you should read: A set of four quite concise and readable articles about McCain’s and Obama’s health care plans. “Oh wow!”, you say, “I’d forgotten that this election was about issues!” I know, I know, I feel the same way. But if for some reason you hadn’t heard how radically different the two candidates are on health care, please go check those links out.
In case you’re too busy, here’s McCain:
McCain’s health care plan would increase taxes on employer based health insurance and price 20 million plus Americans out of the coverage they currently rely on. In return, he’d give them a tax credit that is not indexed to health costs, and will become worthless as the years pass. He’d push them into the individual market, where higher administrative costs and underwriting practices mean that if individuals try to purchase the exact policy offered by their employers, they will pay $2,000 more per year. In addition, the sick can be turned away, and the state regulations that ensure some minimum level of benefits will be dismantled. All this will cost us $1.3 trillion over 10 years, and set the rules so that more of the expense falls on the sick and less rests on the healthy.
And here’s Obama:
- Learning. One-third of medical costs go for services at best ineffective and at worst harmful. Fifty billion dollars will jump-start the long-overdue information revolution in health care to identify the best providers, treatments and patient management strategies.
- Rewarding. Doctors and hospitals today are paid for performing procedures, not for helping patients. Insurers make money by dumping sick patients, not by keeping people healthy. Mr. Obama proposes to base Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and doctors on patient outcomes (lower cholesterol readings, made and kept follow-up appointments) in a coordinated effort to focus the entire payment system around better health, not just more care.
- Pooling. The Obama plan would give individuals and small firms the option of joining large insurance pools. With large patient pools, a few people incurring high medical costs will not topple the entire system, so insurers would no longer need to waste time, money and resources weeding out the healthy from the sick, and businesses and individuals would no longer have to subject themselves to that costly and stressful process.
- Preventing. In today’s health-care market, less than one dollar in 25 goes for prevention, even though preventive services — regular screenings and healthy lifestyle information — are among the most cost-effective medical services around. Guaranteeing access to preventive services will improve health and in many cases save money.
- Covering. Controlling long-run health-care costs requires removing the hidden expenses of the uninsured. The reforms described above will lower premiums by $2,500 for the typical family, allowing millions previously priced out of the market to afford insurance.
And here’s a photo of some cute lemurs:
Lemurs are stackable!
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