The health care topic is one that has been on the forefront of all political debates throughout the 2008 Presidential race. McCain, Clinton and Obama have tried, earnestly, to remove themselves from the Republican ideals regarding health care and contrast the current health care plight with promises of a better tomorrow.
While these Presidential candidates have clearly stayed within their given ideals on health care reform, the vigor with which their platforms where once stated has now manifested to a more acceptable and achievable set of solutions.
At the heart of the health care reform is change and that is just the way it should be. Where once, political analysts tried to price the cost of the health care reform proposals, today lies the understanding that there is no set pricing scheme for health care and neither should their be. The key is to focus more on the reform and the choice of cutting the overall cost of health care for the American people.
For instance, Senator McCain has aimed his health care reform changes at mimicking the current “voucher” mentality that brought about the economic stimulus package. These vouchers would allow the consumer to freely shop for the right health care for them, just like shopping for anything else in their lives. His plan focuses more on providing insurance with less regulation and less governmental interaction.
Clinton and Obama offer the same general approach to health care reform. They both want to provide health care for everyone. The health care would be paid for by the individual, employers would offer more payment coverage and the government would take up the gap between the covered Americans and those who are not covered.
One similarity between all three platforms is the “
Pain-free” nature by which the new reform would take place. But, the money saving claims from the candidates is clearly not an issue that is assured. Americans can be certain, however, that once a plan is set in place that will save money, the health insurance companies will be the first to speak up.
There are clearly problems in the way the health care system is being run today. McCain, for instance, wants to replace the tax benefits of employer based health care with a $5,000 tax credit for everyone. No matter how much money is made or whether health care coverage is obtained through an employer, the tax credit is a given for all who file taxes.
Senator McCain has also realized and voiced the fact that not all Americans would be able to find the right health care coverage under his health care plans. McCain suggests a partnership between a not for profit government committee and private insurance coverage to set affordable plans and subsidies for lower income families. While this is clearly not universal health care, it is an admission that reform will take time and support from more than any single source.
Clinton, who spear headed the 1993 health care campaign reform task to no avail, has moved away from those ideals and broadened her horizons with a Republican feel. She now states that the voucher program with competing health insurance companies may be the best way to go with a stronger focus on reigning in the cost of health care.
How will the health care reforms be paid for? The debate over how to pay for health care changes has flip flopped the entire Presidential campaign. Democratic candidates essentially want to remove the Bush tax cuts and use that money to pay for health care. They insist they will continue to utilize the money saved by eliminating these tax cuts year after year until a better solution presents itself.
Even though it seems the two sides of the debate are nearing more of a center, there are still many aspects of health care reform to argue over. From Senator McCain's idea to deregulate state to state health care rules and regulations to the Democratic path of setting price points for health care coverage by forcing private insurers to compete with government insurance plan prices, the debate is still up in the air, but clearly there is movement on the health care trail.
