What was McCain thinking when he came up with the idea to tax employer provided health insurance?

[NNN0LHI]

That was enough for my Republican mother who a year ago wouldn't vote for Omaba if you had paid her to.

She is voting for Obama now.

Don

[fed_up_mother]

1. He wants us to go out and find our own insurance - "competition" you know?

Will bring the price down, blah, blah, blah.

:sarcasm:

Yeah, I'd like to see him go out and find an insurance company that would accept him. :(

[annabanana]

3. Really. He is LOADED with "pre-existing conditions". .

But then, he is probably rich enough to pay out of pocket for everything...

[Mist]

2. McLame "thinks"? Who knew? nt

[av8rdave]

4. He also wants to eliminate the tax break corporations get for providing employee health insurance

The whole idea, IMO, is to get companies to drop health insurance altogether. Then, as his theory goes, you happily take your $5K tax credit he wants to give you and go buy the health insurance you choose.

Only problem is, if you and/or a family member have a pre-existing condition, good luck! His plan to have you buy on the "open market" means you'll be getting your health care through the same HMOs, PPO, and insurers that you do now. You know, the ones that collect premiums (partly from employers, for now) and deny you benefits. Not only that, but $5K won't get you much of a plan for a family.

I would be curious as to how much McSame has collected from the health insurance industry, both as a candidate and a Senator.

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. So when employers no longer provide health care insurance for their employees and

these employees can't afford the full premiums on their own, won't the insurance companies be screwed, fewer policies, fewer profits?

[av8rdave]

21. One would hope so, but I think not

Health care is an essential. I think they're counting on most citizens giving up whatever else they have to in order to have health care. Furthermore, all those health insurance companies are free to charge whatever they want. You wind up with yet another unregulated industry providing an essential service.

Obviously, many people won't be able to buy health insurance regardless of what they give up. I believe the result will be an even greater number of uninsured. When their health problems reach emergency room status, we all foot the bill. Therefore, those who pay for their health insurance also help pay for the uninsured. At the same time, I believe we will see a growing part of every health care dollar going to the insurance company bottom lines, instead of medical goods and services.

[TomClash]

5. New wars to finance nt

[peekaloo]

6. He's innovative! Fresh new ideas to stimulate the economy!

do I really need that sarcasm thingie?

[DBoon]

7. social darwinism - his answer to socialism

"survival of the fittest"

He want to improve the genetic makeup of the human species by ensuring the poverty gene dies out?

[KayLaw]

8. Who knows?

Sometimes I think the Republicans just want to destroy what's left of the middle class and that's why they rant about nurses and teachers. Taxing our health benefits would really hurt my family. Didn't Palin say something about going into other states to find health care? We live in Florida. We're solidly middle class but if we have to pay income tax on our health care bennies, we'll have less to spend on any extras at all.

[kernelfarmer]

9. It benefits ultra rich

It finally hit me..........

The ultra rich, independently wealthy, elite will actually benefit from this. While they are most likely paying full price for their health insurance now, they will get the tax credit under douchebag's new plan. They will actually gain that 5000 that the rest of us lose, since they don't have employer-provided healthcare (they buy it on the open market). It all makes sense, help the rich folks and screw the rest of us.

I absolutely can't wait to defeat these bastards in less than 2 weeks. Just remember we are 14 days away from the best (or worst, depends on your point of view) hangover of our lives.

[Betty88]

10. I have to pay taxes on my partners health insurance..

it sucks, just saying

[Juche]

11. He probably figured Americans were too dumb to ever find that out

he has lied consistently in this campaign. So I guess he figured we'd never find out.

As to his motive, I'd assume its to break apart the employer/employee healthcare bond. Problem is that within 10 years a family healthcare policy will cost $25,000 a year. The tax credit (which grows at 2% a year) will be worth $6,000 by the late 2010s. How many middle class families have $19,000 a year lying around to buy a family health policy?

[Princess Turandot]

12. I have no idea..

it almost seems as if it was a ill-thought-through response to how his health insurance tax credit would be funded. Insurance companies won't really care whether or not they are selling a policy to a company that employs 2,000 people or to 2,000 individuals. In fact, collecting/ processing premiums for 2,000 people in one monthly transaction is a lot easier than doing so for 2,000 individual contracts. So, it doesn't really benefit them if companies start dropping coverage for their employees.

Of course, it may have just been a dodge to get around revealing that he intended to reduce Medicare and Medicaid spending to pay for the credit. I think that came out rather late in the campaign.

[Jack from Charlotte]

13. Radio ad pointing that out is playing here in North Carolina....

day and night. And on Sports Talk Radio which, one would think is 98% men and in The South, 70% Republic Party listener-ship.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

14. it is 100% all about moving health insurance to the private market

and eliminating any worked based health benefits.

Which might work out well if you are a healthy 21 year old. A 50 year old worker, not so much.

[njtechguy]

16. simple

you eliminate workplace benefits. then insurance companies can improve their bottom line by eliminating those with pre-existing conditions by just insuring the healthy.

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. And if the healthy can't afford the premiums, won't the insurance companies lose out?

fewer policies=fewer profits? :shrug:

[serrano2008]

17. Right...he taxes it but then gives a tax refund for it...

so, now the American people are buying everyone's Health insurance? Or the govt gets to "borrow" the money and then pay it back to us interest free? Really, it makes no damn sense in the world. Who ever came up with his plan is nuts.

And he wants us to "shop around" and go to different states to get health insurance? I used to work in health insurance until earlier this year, BCBS, and just from a logistal standpoint of every health insurance company in America having to have local providers from all across the country in their "network" and stuff...it's going to be a nightmare. Like I want to buy some health insurance in North Carolina so they can tell me which 3 doctors I can go to in a 100 mile radius from my house. Come on, it don't make no sense.

[NNN0LHI]

20. Ant not a tax refund either. A tax credit. Whatever that is?

[serrano2008]

22. Yeah, what the hell does that even mean...can anyone help explain where this money comes from?

Like the Bush tax cuts gave us all a refund of our tax dollars which we all spent to buy more expensive gas - I get that, he stoled the money from us and gave it to them.

Where does a money for a "tax credit" come from? We get taxed on it through the year, does that make our incomes higher so our total tax rate is more? Then, they take all the tax money that came in and credit us for our health insurance amount up to $5,000? So they're putting us in higher tax brackets to take out taxes which they then repay at lower tax amounts...

...shit, I don't know. I know that in 2 weeks from today we'll never have to discuss it again, but I'm just sure it's screwing us over somehow and funneling more money to the govt. or the health insurance companies or something.

[lligrd]

19. I Read Somewhere That He Thought We Had Too Much

Insurance which was driving up costs. I guess he thinks $5000 is the level of insurance people should get. That should pay for basic check ups and vaccines but once you get a real illness you should do your patriotic duty and die quietly.

[morillon]

23. It is one of the most boneheaded parts of his entire platform.

I don't think it makes sense even from a trickle-down, rich-get-richer Republican point of view. It fucks *everyone* over. Not even the insurance companies will do well, because most people when faced with really high premiums choose to just go without.

I was talking to a guy the other day who is rather well off and was on privately purchased insurance for several years. Initially, his payments were $300 a month, which was a trivial amount to him and his wife. But then she got sick, and he had a car accident in which his medical bills weren't completely paid for by the other guy's insurance.

His premiums climbed from $300 a month to over three THOUSAND a month in a span of about eighteen months. He finally decided to just stick the $3K a month in a separate bank account and not to have insurance at all.

I can't think of anyone who does well under McCain's boneheaded plan.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

24. He was thinking Sarah has a nice ass.

nt

[Lex]

25. ***TAX INCREASE ON THE MIDDLE CLASS***

Sorry for yelling but jesus h. christ, that will be one sweeping tax increase on the middle class.