The Happy Hospitalist - Latest Comments in http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2008/10/mccain-vs-obama.html

Re: http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2008/10/mccain-vs-obama.html

tracy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:51:00 -0000

Amen, Anon!!!

Re: http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2008/10/mccain-vs-obama.html

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:05:00 -0000

You're naive if you think McCain's plan is going to cause anything but a bigger public health disaster.

For one thing, there's no price regulation, no requirement to cover anyone with pre-existing conditions, and insufficient funding for premiums (that $5,000 credit still leaves a family about $7,000 short).

Insurance companies will relocate their headquarters to states with the fewest comprehensive care requirements. Believe me, because I saw this happen with the credit industry in the 80s and 90s.

Conservative estimates suggest 20 million people will lose insurance (mostly the older and sicker individuals), while 21 million will gain insurance (the younger and healthier). That's a net gain of only 1 million newly insured people.

Meanwhile, EMTALA will still require you to care for them.

I don't know why you conservative medicos think this is going to make things better for you; it's really going to make things worse, or at best, create no change at all, because there's no way McCain's plan is going to get past a Democratic Congress.

Re: http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2008/10/mccain-vs-obama.html

ck — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:12:00 -0000

Heh, you can have 2 of the 3: access, affordability, and quality. Take that as you will -- a ding against McCain or pointing out the unspoken in the Obama plan.

Re: http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2008/10/mccain-vs-obama.html

Bianca Castafiore — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:02:00 -0000

Salut! Without betraying my own vacillating political predilections (postgraduate work at UC-Berkeley having been tempered by serving time at Duke --and all of that influence finished off by severe francophilia...), I can say that, at this point, political humorists are providing the best summaries of the issues. Oops -- except for yours, of course. Anyway... For a helpful review of the Second Debate between McMaverick and That One:
http://www.colbertnation.co...

Colbert on the portability aspect of McCain's health plan?
"When you cross state lines to buy fireworks, liquor and cigarettes, you can also buy health care..."