As over 47 million Americans are currently without any form of health insurance, the issue of healthcare has become a very major one for both presidential candidates.
The Obama Plan for universal healthcare would guarantee that all Americans would be covered by the end of his first term in office. It would provide all Americans with access to the same type of healthcare benefits currently enjoyed by members of Congress. It would allow for the treatment of all essential services such as preventative medicine, maternity care and disease management. Individuals who can’t afford the premiums would be given federal subsidies to make the premiums affordable.
On the other hand, the McCain Health Plan doesn't stand up to the light of reason, given the rising costs of health care in the United States. Under the McCain Plan, Americans have to shop for health insurance with their own money and would receive a tax rebate of $2,500 per individual and $5,000 per family. Under the McCain Plan, employers would no longer get a tax deduction for providing health insurance to their employees. Simply put, the McCain Plan would give employers an excuse not to provide health benefits to their employees because the tax incentive to do so would be taken away.
The Obama Healthcare Plan would do the following:
Reduce the cost for businesses
Reduce costs by improving the quality of care that patients will receive
Eligibility would be guaranteed
There will be comprehensive benefits similar to the benefits received by members of Congress
Co-pays, deductibles, and premiums would be more affordable
Enrollment would be made easy
Paper work would be simplified and health costs reined in
Healthcare plans would become portable, meaning that employees would be able to move a plan from one job to another without interruption of coverage
Large employers would be required to cover their employees or pay a fine
No one will be turned away for pre-existing conditions
All Americans would be covered
It is my view that the McCain plan would do nothing to solve America’s healthcare crisis; it would encourage more employers to drop healthcare coverage for their employees and would lead to a swelling of the ranks of the uninsured.
The Obama Plan offers hope for the uninsured; it would shift the charity care burden away from healthcare institutions like Muhlenberg to the federal government and would allow for better delivery of healthcare to urban communities.
The Obama plan has my vote.
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