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Who Will Really Provide Affordable Health Insurance? Studies Analyze Political Promises for Medical Insurance.
October 2008
While the medical insurance debate has been all but eclipsed by the current economic crisis, you can bet that concerns regarding health care are going to resurface very soon.
In part this is due to the fear that a huge economic bailout will make it impossible for either candidate to produce an affordable health insurance plan for the nation. But assuming that health care options continue to move forward, recent analysis has focused on whose presidential promises are most popular.
According to the Commonwealth Fund, Democratic nominee Barack Obama's medical insurance plan is the most popular with voters because it offers more extensive coverage to citizens. As things are, the 46 million uninsured of today are projected to number 67 million in ten years unless something is done. According to their study, the Commonwealth Fund reports that Obama's plan would offer coverage to 34 million of those individuals.
Under McCain's medical insurance plan that number drops to 2 million.
This is because Obama offers a mix of affordable health insurance plans that are both public and private, which could provide insurance options for 6 out of every 10 Americans under the age of 65. He also would require coverage for all children, going so far as to make this coverage the law.
And while Obama has talked about completely replacing the individual insurance market, McCain's plan is to change the tax code to encourage more enrollment in the individual market.
While eliminating state restrictions on insurance could make for more affordable health insurance plans across state lines - which McCain has said is an integral part of his health care plan - a failure to provide for those with pre-existing conditions could leave millions without coverage.
Of course, while Obama's plan is more popular there's still the concern that it would cost the federal government too much money. Certainly a more affordable health insurance market would help individual people, but it could cost the federal government billions and billions of dollars.
And since we'll be paying for this billion dollar bailout for years to come, it might prove difficult to add medical insurance costs to that bill as well. Obama promises to maintain his health care promises regardless, but what will really happen remains to be seen in 2009.
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