More Health Care And The Campaigns

Obama actually released a second ad on McCain's Health Care Tax today.



While this is definitely effective, it treats McCain's tax as a tax, when if you fully explain it out, it's worse than that.

In year one, you'll have to pay that tax, and the tax credit will roughly offset it. But the tax credit grows with inflation. Health spending grows much more quickly. By year five, your tax credit will have shrunk. Sharply. But health spending will be up, and so your tax increase will have expanded. Substantially. With every passing year, you pay more in taxes and receive less from the tax credit. The plan's savings -- minimal already -- are frontloaded and its costs are delayed. It's a pretty dirty trick.

That's the perfect Republican squeeze play. And if you have a pre-existing medical condition - forget it. Go sign up on a long sheet of those hoping to get the state to help you with your coverage. McCain's plan is a disaster.

What I didn't realize is that Obama released an ad about his own health care plan this week as well.



I know I'm not the target audience for this spot and that it's designed for swing-state independents, but it infuriates me. It shows that Obama is committed only to tinkering around the edges on health care. Eliminating pre-existing conditions would be a big step forward, as would mandating that a high percentage of premiums go to treatment. And preventive care is nice and all. But this keeps us very firmly in the status quo, with the insurance industry and its army of lobbyists in the lead. "Bring down costs" is thrown in there but cost control is not explained or even presented in his plan. And the public option, which is what I'm hanging my hat on in Obama's plan, goes unmentioned, which is a tell that it could go away.

This gives me little hope of Obama's seriousness about this issue, and Congress will have to take the lead here. I know there's a bias toward people liking what they have in health care, but I don't even know how true that is anymore. And his "common sense" solution makes little sense at all.

Ugh.