HealthDecision '08

I was watching Bill Maher’s show on Friday night, when Will.I.Am said:

I’m not saying that the government should bail you out, but the government should put regulations on banks so that banks have rules on what kind of loans they give to the people.

I agree, and although the discussion was sparked by the current financial services meltdown, the philosophy of strict regulation apply to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries as well.

There’s no denying that there are inefficiencies built into the infrastructure of our current healthcare system. If you saw Michael Moore’s “Sicko”, you probably have an opinion about the short-comings of our nation’s healthcare industry.

But opinions aside, the facts are:

• Healthcare costs are spiraling at 2-3 times the rate of inflation, according to the National Coalition on Health Care.
• 47 million Americans or uninsured, and millions more are “underinsured”.
• Prescription drug costs are skyrocketing.
• Employers are continuously dropping or lowering coverage because of rising healthcare costs.

And rising healthcare costs usually lead to a greater number of uninsured people in the long run.

So, healthcare reform is obviously a hot topic for this year’s election season. With this in mind, Healthcare.com sponsored an initiative called HealthDecision ’08, to inform citizens of each candidate’s proposal, and to gather public opinion.

The focus of the Obama plan is on providing greater health insurance coverage using a system of “managed competition” that places greater regulations on the industry.

The focus of the McCain plan is on lowering health care costs using “free market competition”.

The choice seems to boil down to whether you believe government regulation is good or bad.

In my opinion, free markets without checks and balances, too often increase opportunities for greed and corruption. I’m not saying capitalism is bad, per se. As a business administration major in college, I was trained in ROI, SWOT, and break-even analyses. But other than a few lectures on ethics, altruism was never part of the overall curriculum.

The Obama plan is a “pay-to-play” system that would force employers that don’t provide an employer-sponsored plan to contribute additional payroll taxes. This, in itself, is not good news for small business owners; but to counterbalance, the plan provides a small business tax credit as an incentive to offer employer-sponsored plans to employees.

The McCain plan is a change in tax code to make health premium benefits paid for by your employer count as taxable income to you. The goal is to provide financial incentives for families to purchase health insurance in a free-market system.

In contrast, the goal of the Obama plan is to provide guaranteed coverage for anyone who wishes to purchase a plan, while mandating increased regulation, and giving financial incentives for small business to offer employer-sponsored health coverage.

To be fair, the McCain plan does provide some level of coverage to individuals who are priced out of private market insurance.

Although I work in the healthcare industry, I don’t presume to be a healthcare expert. On this subject, I am guided by the philosophy that we deserve a system that heals without the threat of bankruptcy and financial ruin.

"Self-governance” is a great ideal. But until our society evolves to a point where it is not driven by avarice, rules and regulations will need to be in place to keep the lower nature of greed in check. Greed usually leads to corruption, and corruption erodes the quality of the lives of most people.

According to an AARP commercial:

Every week thousands of Americans file for bankruptcy related to medical costs.

This kind of thing can happen to almost anyone in this day and age. This is something we should all think about when we go to the polls on November 4^th.

So which plan is better? I’ll just reference what Bill Maher said comparing Finland's healthcare system to John McCain's plan:

The Fins have free healthcare for life. As opposed to the McCain plan which is a tax credit and a bucket you can throw up in.

When you focus on the issues and put everything else aside, Obama's plan seems to be a better deal for the average American. But that's just my opinion, you should decide for yourself.

GOP Views are Archaic

Now that the Republican National Convention has officially ended, we all can breathe a sigh of relief; because the negative energy that they left behind, like a carbon footprint, is slowly starting to dissipate.

Not only were the attacks on Barack Obama in poor taste (and untrue), they show that these people would rather mock a decent man than to address the real issues that effect real Americans. We are facing a worldwide crisis as a result of the current administration’s policies, and all they seem to care about is character assassination. I wonder if people are really buying what they’re selling, especially in this time when the Internet offers free, ubiquitous and verifiable information.

Their views do not reflect the will of the people, and Sarah Palin’s extreme stance on abortion, sex education in schools, gun rights, and the war in Iraq are prime examples that the Spanish Inquisition-type mentality is trying to make a comeback. They are stalwartly attempting to maintain the status quo, but it’s not going to happen this time. The times are too trying. The stakes are too high. If McCain and Palin win this election, we better brace ourselves because this country and the entire planet are potentially doomed.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the conservative base of the Republican Party believe that everything is just fine. We can not afford this elitist, “let them eat cake” attitude to determine our destiny. We are at a crossroads and the entire planet is changing, because change is inevitable. We have two choices: either change with it, or die!

But what do McCain and Palin want? They want to prevent the change, and take us back 50 years where people rarely questioned authority, and when there was limited power for a woman to choose. They say that republicans want limited government, but the Bush administration nearly doubled the size of the federal government in the past eight years! Let’s not forget, John McCain has historically agreed with George W. Bush 90% of the time.

As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. She opposes comprehensive sex education in public schools, and believes that creationism should be taught in public schools. This way of thinking often leads to ignorant youth, pregnant teens, and right-wing religious fanatics who don’t accept scientific facts that conflict with their own limited belief system.

I just don’t understand why anyone would want to elect leaders that would take us backwards, while the rest of the world is moving forward. As the saying goes, either you’re part of the solution, or you’re part of the problem.

Obama/ Biden ‘08