Bush’s healthcare plan
Jan 22nd, 2007 at 2:17 pm by Dr. S
Surprisingly, it has no basis whatsoever in reality. The shrill one:
On the radio, Mr. Bush suggested that we should “treat health insurance more like home ownership.†He went on to say that “the current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes. We can reform the tax code, so that it provides a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance.â€
Wow. Those are the words of someone with no sense of what it’s like to be uninsured.
Going without health insurance isn’t like deciding to rent an apartment instead of buying a house. It’s a terrifying experience, which most people endure only if they have no alternative. The uninsured don’t need an “incentive†to buy insurance; they need something that makes getting insurance possible.
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The only people the Bush plan might move out of the ranks of the uninsured are the people we’re least concerned about — affluent, healthy Americans who choose voluntarily not to be insured. At most, the Bush plan might induce some of those people to buy insurance, while in the process — whaddya know — giving many other high-income individuals yet another tax break.
While proposing this high-end tax break, Mr. Bush is also proposing a tax increase — not on the wealthy, but on workers who, he thinks, have too much health insurance. The tax code, he said, “unwisely encourages workers to choose overly expensive, gold-plated plans. The result is that insurance premiums rise, and many Americans cannot afford the coverage they need.â€
Again, wow. No economic analysis I’m aware of says that when Peter chooses a good health plan, he raises Paul’s premiums. And look at the condescension. Will all those who think they have “gold plated†health coverage please raise their hands?
Come on, get them hands up. You know who you are.
my health plan is called “Gold” does that count?
I did some of the quick calculations here.
For the last 14 years, Dubya has had his very fancy health care paid for by the taxpayers.
[...] to acknowledge the problem of affordable health care in a new health insurance proposal that economist Paul Krugman finds offensive (especially in Bush’s comparison of buying a house and buying health insurance): Going [...]