Debate+Prep+cd09

BY STEVEN, JO'SE AND CHARISSE

**__ John McCain's healthcare plan__**
One of the biggest problems with health care today is the rising price and the difficulty accessing it. I believe that we can achieve savings without reducing benifits or eligibility. With greater eligibility, more people will have access to healthcare which will solve the problem of 15.3% of Americans not having health care. My health care plan involves more imployer coverage, so that employees dont need to buy health care though their jobs. I want to make health insurance more portable so that it can go with you from job to job. You will not lose your health care just because you lose your job. With my plan, people with pre existing conditions will no longer be denied access to quality affordable health care. Citizens will recieve a 5,00 dollar tax credit to provide the health care of their choice. Currently in America if you have employer based coverage and you lose your job you will lose your health care. With my plan, People who cant afford health insurance use the ER when they have to take trips to the doctor, which takes reources from people with real emergencies. Our emergancy fooms are full of people who dont need to be there, and our waiting rooms are full of people waiting to take their places. We need to have constant access to emergancy rooms for those who need them. Also health care in the US has been reffered to as "sick care," because it will not pay for you to **stay** healty. For example, health insurance will not cover drug rehab or smoking programs. Another problem with the United States current health plan is that it does not cover pre existing conditions. This means that when people sign up for health care, if they already have a certain health condition, they may not qualify, and they may not be accepted. The final problem with health care in the US is that when you are in the emergency room, your insurance company will dicede how long your stay is there meaning if you get an operation, you might be kept in the hospitol for 3 days afterwards, even if the doctor says you should be kept 5 days afterward. The Health care provider gets to make the choice, because they are paying for it.

**John McCain Proposes Making Insurance More Portable.** Americans need insurance that follows them from job to job. They want insurance that is still there if they retire early and does not change if they take a few years off to raise the kids.

mcCains health care plan involves: -More Choices -greater tax benifits -more employer coverage

TheMcCain plan will result in average tax benefits of $1,200 for American families

The McCain Plan DOES NOT tax: John McCain believes thats we can achieve savings in medicare without reducing benefits or elligibility.
 * Premiums paid by families and individuals
 * Employers for providing health care coverage
 * Medical expenses like the cost of a procedure or medication
 * Insurance claims

McCain believes that no American should be denied access to quality affordable healthcare coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

McCains plan builds on the employer based system.

McCain says “I propose that we try a time-honored approach and let the states work on whatever method they find most promising. The federal

government can help fund this effort, but in exchange, states should allow Medicaid and SCHIP funds to be used for private insurance and develop methods to augment Medicaid and tax credits for more expensive care. I want to preserve the quality of health care, I want to make it affordable and I want to make it available. I want to give everybody in this room, every family in this room a $5,000 refundable tax credit. And you can take that across state lines and go anyplace in America you want to and get a health insurance policy. And if you got any money left over, then you 'ought to be able to invest in a health savings account.”-

Only 84.7% of americans have health care today 45.7 million people DONT have health care due to the high healthcare prices.
 * Issues:**

The debate about U.S. health care concerns questions of access, efficiency, and quality purchased by the high sums spent.

Obamas plan increases the problems: **1) Reduces patient incentives to find the best possible prices for the best possible services/products available.** Patients in the U.S. who receive "free" (taxpayer-funded) health care have no incentive to conserve their health care dollars. Care is "free" so they visit the doctor's office several times a month or request "free" prescriptions for over-the-counter medication such as Tylenol and pain killers.  With no incentive to provide quality care, physicians and nurses leave the government-monopolized area for better opportunities in a freer country. Shortages result. 3)Takes money from you to pay for my health care Yes, everyone has a right to health care, however you have no "right" to force others to provide these things for you - All "free" medical care is subsidized through taxes stolen from other people.
 * 2) Reduces physician incentives to provide competitive care and reduces drug companies' incentives to provide new drugs and treatments. **

**As the poor and middle-class wait for simple proceedures those with alternate resources can travel to other countries for treatment.
 * 4) The quality of "free" health care will deteriorate and the average citizen will get sicker.

Suddenly, everyones problem will become everyone elses. Others become responsible for your injuries.
 * 5) Destroys your privacy. **

My health care involves: better benefits and more employer coverage. The tax benefits received for the average person will be about $2500 per person. My plan does NOT include insurance claims, medical expenses, etc. I believe no American should be denied access to quality, affordable healthcare because of a pre-existing condition. Only 84.7% of Americans have healthcare, which means 45.7 million people don’t have it.