Okay, so under John McCain's plan, there's no incentive for our employers to subsidize our health insurance. We're off to the private market, full of competition, where surely we'll experience the same level of coverage we currently receive. John McCain will remain on government provided health care that is free of charge, had no deductible, and unlimited benefits.
But what if he were subjected to his own health care plan instead?
John McCain is 72 years old. He's had four bouts of malignant melanoma, one of the most dangerous forms of cancer. He's a torture victim. I can't recall if he was a former smoker or not, but regardless, there's one thing I'm certain of. He ain't getting past an underwriter. I used to sell health insurance to self employed people here in Washington, there's a standardized questionnaire about your medical history. It's eighteen pages long. The second you check off the box next to cancer, and particularly malignant melanoma, the underwriter takes out a big red stamp that says "DENY" and covers every page of your application with it with before drawing frowny faces on it and then driving a stake through it for good measure.
That means that poor John McCain is going to have to take his denial and interestingly, beg the state government for coverage. They'll put him in his state's high risk pool, also known as the insurer of last resort, for when everyone else has rejected you. But lucky for him, he's got that $2,500 tax credit coming. Let's say that he decides he wants to live next door to me in Seattle (a most unwelcome neighbor in this very ethnically mixed neighborhood, no doubt). What would he pay in the Washington State Health Insurance Pool?
Well, he's gonna have to suck it up and choose a plan with a deductible. He's a frugal man, and has to be, what with his $2,500 to spend, so he decides on a high deductible, let's say, $1,500, and the standard plan, no preferred providers. His monthly cost would be $1,072.00/month. In less than three months, his tax credit is used up. $10,364 is what he has to cover for the remainder of the year, and he still has to shell out $1,500 before the pool pays for any coverage, so his annual health care costs, before co-pays, are $11,864.00.
But wait! He's going to open up the competition across state lines! Well, lovely, but again, all the private insurers will deny him coverage. He's too damn risky. Still, we'll pretend that the high risk pool in any state will cover him, and say that he purchases it in the state of my birth, New Mexico, where health insurance is far cheaper than in Washington.
Phew! It works. For a $2,000 deductible plan, he'll pay only $422/month. Now his annual cost is only $5,064/year, or more than twice his tax credit. Oh, and the $2,000 deductible, for a total of $4,064 before co-pays.
Ah, but let's not forget the co-pays. On this cheaper plan, they max out at an additional $3,000/year. I have a feeling that for a senior with as many medical problems as McCain has, he's going to max this out pretty quickly, and that's before the fact that the rate of inflation for medical care is higher than the overall rate of inflation. Now we're up to $7,064, or approaching three times John McCain's $2,500 tax credit.
Now I want to compare this with what I, a very healthy 29 year old, and anyone else at my company pays. It's $67/month, which we get to deduct from our income. I don't have a deductible. I have a $15/copay for primary care, $30 for specialists, which is kind of high in my opinion. My company gets a tax break for subsidizing it, which is nice for them, and provides another benefit for employees. No one is excluded for pre-existing conditions. I realize that I'm subsidizing treatment for my unhealthy coworkers, but I'm okay with that. The point of insurance is to spread the burden. My annual cost for premiums is $804.00. I have a $3,000 out of pocket max. So, for a senior at my company, we're talking $3,804 maximum on health care, even if she gets cancer. And again, I'm in Washington, where coverage is pretty expensive, and it's still just 53% of John McCain's crappy plan.
I know, I know, Medicare would step in, at least until John McCain dismantles it by cutting $1.3 trillion from it to pay for his $2,500 tax credit. And I know that his sugar mama, Cindy, has a cool $100 million, so he could have no insurance at all and still afford to get a new kidney just for kicks. But if he had to actually deal with his plan as he envisions it, and had to do so on the median income for an individual of $39,403, I think he'd realize just how bad his plan is. A boy can dream.