Cost Surprise on Sens. McCain & Obama's Health Plans
It's great to see more analysis of the health proposals of Senator McCain and Senator Obama because when the financial meltdown comes off the front page, we're all going to be left with less employer health care, less affordable health care and less available insurance. Today's offering from the Commonwealth Fund goes well beyond the recent Kaiser Foundation comparison, actually judging the effectiveness of proposals by Sens. McCain and Obama. Both plans start with the private insurance system.
The Commonwealth Fund is a well-regarded and mainstream nonprofit foundation that focuses on health policy. It judges the health reform proposals against its goals for improving health care nationwide (see figure ES-4 below) and compares the plans on several points, including affordability. The charts below clarify that the McCain and Obama plans are in most ways a choice between laissez-faire market freedom and a tougher government regulatory plan.
Bottom line: Should health care be viewed as an individual commercial transaction or a national responsibiity?
Here are the report's four charts that look at goals met, key differences, how many people get insured, and overall cost.
