Urgh.

[apocalypsos]

John McCain wants to kill me.

He doesn't know who I am, has never met me, and has probably never heard my name. Nonetheless, he wants to kill me.

*

I couldn't resist the new tag. I'm debating what to use for Obama stuff, but "PHILF" is the only one I like so far which really makes me feel weird. (The first two letters stand for "Presidential hopeful." I'm pretty sure you can figure out the other three. :))

Comments

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

It's frustrating because health care in general is difficult to fund, but no one seems interested in finding middle ground. I'm talking real-world options that try to find solutions that put people in control of their lives - and don't buy them wheelchairs that make them more dependent on others, etc. I'm talking solutions that demand that insurance companies and medical providers start doing their f***ing jobs instead of making money hand over fist at my expense - and don't fall for the hype, they are both definitely making more money now than they ever did before medical care became advanced enough to offer life at great expense to the disabled. I'm talking about not letting my medical equipment provider rip off my insurance and then my insurance complain to me about being too expensive - do I really need all this (no, I said I needed that, but you didn't listen and it cost you a buttload more) - because they'd never complain to the providers. They're in bed together.

I'm pretty much going to need a six figure salary starting the day I graduate, because at that time I will be employable and no longer eligible for benefits. There's no step program that adjusts as you move up, so either I don't pay a cent into government and get benefits of astronomical costs, or I get a $50k salary job (my most likely salary at graduation), no government benefits, and live in such poverty that I probably won't be able to stay out of the hospital or keep my job, and I'll end up right back on government aid - after I get through the five year waiting period. $50K would pay for my rent, groceries, assistance, and taxes. That's it - no insurance of any kind, no gas for the vehicle, no vehicle maintenance, no copays, no uninsured items, etc. This means, for example, that I won't be able to get to work because public transportation isn't feasible.

I don't want to live off the government all my life. Most of us don't, but they don't provide other options. I could be paying back a percentage of what I cost, which is better than nothing, even if it isn't as good as everything, but at that point they're going to say: you're making too much. Even though I wouldn't be making as much as they put out.

[doqz.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that the current attitude makes 2 things inevitable:

1 - there current system will be made dead
2 - whatever emerges in its stead will have a government-run component.

Like I said, I am still chewing my way through the nitty-gritty of the both plans. Both are flawed, there's no question about it. I think McCain erred too much toward the laissez-faire approach and runs the risk of leaving a bunch of people in a lurch.

But, imo, Obama's plan is badly throught out in the long term. On its face it's exactly what I would consider ideal - a 2-tier system.

But he is suggesting that the government offers basically the best possible medical plan for an under-market price. That's incredibly silly - federal employees get this option because the state needs to compete with the private sector that can offer bigger salaries.

Extending the same option to everyone would not simply underbid any private healthcare firm, but he also suggests that government regulate the private sector into offering a very specific range of services for a 'fair' price.

Within a decade most people will opt for the public tier or - more realistically - a new reform will be needed because I don't think we can fund it as it's offered.

Ideally, I think Clinton's welfare reform would be taken as a model, with the governmental tier covering those are are absolutely screwed without it, and every incentive given for them to shift toward the private sector when they can afford it.

From that POV, I think McCain plan is better, because he'd have to run it by Democratic congress and come to a reasonable compromise.

Obama himself admits that his plan is a work in progress. Apparently he's planning on borrowing features from Edwards's model.