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Uninsured irony

This Web only Speakout has not been edited.

Kjersten Forseth

Published May 16, 2008 at 6 a.m.

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It is ironic John McCain has decided to launch a health care town hall tour during National Uninsured Week. John McCain has no plan for the uninsured and no plan for actually reducing the cost of health care. In fact, his plan may cause more Americans, who are currently insured, to lose their coverage.

Most Americans get their health insurance coverage through their employer. But as health care costs have steadily increased, more and more businesses are declining to offer health coverage to their workers because they are being priced out of the market. McCain would make this problem even worse by eliminating the existing tax break for employers who provide their workers with health insurance. That will discourage employers from providing coverage and leave workers to fend for themselves on the individual market.

I challenge each of you to talk to one person with an individual plan. How does their coverage compare to yours? How high is their deductible? $2,000, $5,000 or $10,000? How high is their premium? Do they even qualify on their own, without being in an employee pool? Is paying $300-$900 per month in premiums with a $10,000 deductible even coverage?

McCain argues that creating more competition and less regulation within the individual market would lower costs and get more people covered. However, without any regulation, insurance companies can cherry-pick by charging unaffordable premiums or even denying coverage to people who have any sort of pre-existing condition. In fact, Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathon Gruber estimates that 1.2 million people would lose coverage if their employer stopped providing it, because the workers couldn't afford to purchase it themselves. Not even John McCain could be covered on the individual market.

McCain's health care plan would transfer the burden of unaffordable health care costs from the employer to working families. Insurance premiums are rising at more than four times the rate of wages in this country, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Colorado for Health Care and its 29,000 Health Care Voters want a presidential candidate who will bring quality, affordable health care to everyone in this country. Then "Cover the Uninsured Week" would be unnecessary.

Kjersten Forseth is the director of Colorado for Health Care, which is part of Americans for Health Care, a project of Service Employees International Union, the nation's largest health-care union. For information, go to www.coloradoforhealthcare.org.

Comments

  • May 26, 2008

    8:36 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    gary writes:

    If you want health care costs to go down...get the Federal Government and insurance companies out of it. Anyone with half a memeory knows that previous to HMO's coming into the picture. We all could afford to go see a doctor. If you do not remember, ask your parents. Mine lived their entire life without any type of health insurance. Take away the insurance companies and let doctors run their own offices again.

    Nuff Said!