Health Care For America Now

Pretty much everyone across the political spectrum agrees our health care system is broken. But let's take a minute and catalogue all the things people like about our current setup:

1. ChoicePeople like having control over their health. Choosing their doctor and being involved in their health decisions is key for Americans.
2. Employer Based InsuranceThough not a perfect solution, the employer based insurance system is one Americans are comfortable with and one that allows employers to offer health insurance as a benefit while leveraging the power of group plan insurance to lower costs. Plus, businesses can offer this substantial benefit tax-free.
3. Medicare and MedicaidMedicare and Medicaid, again, while problematic, have been huge successes by many measures. In fact, they were responsible for the slight decrease in the number of uninsured in America last year. Even the insurance industry wants to expand funding to these programs.

Senator John McCain wants to destroy all of these things. His proposed health care plan would eliminate the tax break employers get for offering health care, which would lead to a massive shift away from the employer based health care system. It's estimated 20 million people would lose their health care in the first year. (And if employers kept offering benefits to their employees, that money would actually be taxed!)

This would throw masses of people out into the free market without any protections or the benefit of group plan insurance. People would have to purchase plans where they could find them or afford them, severely limiting choice. Not to mention the cost - McCain is offering a $5,000 tax credit (which goes right to the insurance company) which would only cover five months of health care for the average family.

Now, to offset the trillions of dollars McCain would have to spend on these tax credits, he plans deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, severely weakening the third part of our system that is somewhat functional.

John McCain wants to take away everything good about our current system, and replace it with deregulation and free market ideology. It's a bait-and switch. As Bob Herbert says, John McCain is the one with a radical health care plan.

So, it's no surprise that everyone, from business to fellow Republicans are running away from this plan as fast as they can.

Now, I'd never say our system as it stands is perfect, or even good. Millions are uninsured and millions more are underinsured. Health care is in crisis and we need a fix.

Today, we're running a national call-in day to get Congress on board with our vision for health care reform. With Barack Obama and Joe Biden signing on yesterday, we've got 76 Members of Congress on board already and the momentum is rising. 

So, take five minutes and give your Congress-critters a call. Even if you've called already, they could stand to hear from you again.