On Thu, 18 Sep 2008, Dan Rue wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 04:08:12PM -0500, Mike Miller wrote:
>> That could change if McCain becomes President:
>>
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html
>>
>> I suppose the change would be good for someone, but I have the impression
>> that most people don't want to pay tax on their health benefit.
>
> Egads, politics on tclug..  I'm not going to get sucked in, but just to
> clarify, from the link:
>
>   While there might be less money in the paycheck, that would not be
>   anything to worry about, according to Senator McCain. That's
>   because the government would be offering all taxpayers a refundable
>   tax credit - $2,500 for a single worker and $5,000 per family - to
>   be used "to help pay for your health care."
>
> So, i'm not an apologist, but to clarify the strategy here, as I 
> understand it.  The idea is to move the burden of health insurance from 
> an employer sponsored benefit to an individual family decision.  The 
> theory is that this will give employees more freedom to move around 
> since they benefits aren't as important, and it will reduce a lot of 
> employer overhead in terms of providing such benefits (esp for small 
> business).

Yes, you quoted the article accurately.  The topic on this thread was how 
to get health insurance at a group rate without being a member of a group. 
It sounds like the McCain plan would make it easier for people to choose 
to disaffiliate from the group, but how would the system deal with all 
these free agents?  If unaffiliated people pay more for insurance, why 
would people want to disaffiliate from their group?

Don't employers get a group rate because they agree that every employee 
will be insured?  If so, won't the McCain plan undermine group insurance?

That's one thing I don't understand about the proposed plan -- how 
individuals can negotiate good rates when successful negotiation has 
historically required a group (e.g., of employees) working together.

By the way, I only care about the facts and will not stoop to advocating 
for one candidate or another on this list.  If the McCain plan is great 
for most people, fine, if it sucks for most people, fine.  I'm only on 
this topic because it sounds like the plan will have a major effect on 
individuals seeking health insurance.

Mike