[Dean's World] Dean: Bush's Health Insurance Proposal

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Posted by Dean:
Bush's Health Insurance Proposal
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1169636678.shtml


   The Wall Street Journal has a good look at the President's proposal on
   health insurance, which is a good, solid, progressive proposal that
   would do a lot to solve our current health insurance mess:

     For all the griping about our system, Americans have the most
     advanced health care in the world in part because we still have
     something resembling a private market for insurance. But it is not
     a truly efficient market because current tax policy lets
     businesses--but not individuals--deduct the cost of health
     expenditures. Thus most Americans with private insurance get it
     from their employers, which leads to inequities and insulates
     individuals from the real cost of their treatment decisions.

     Mr. Bush's "standard deduction" for health care would move in the
     direction of solving both problems. Instead of giving employers an
     unlimited deduction and individuals none, Mr. Bush would give every
     family a $15,000 deduction ($7,500 for individuals) regardless of
     their insurance source.

     That might mean a slight tax increase for those who currently have
     the most expensive insurance plans. But the average
     employer-sponsored family plan runs about $11,500 annually, and
     about 80% of the 160 million employer-insured Americans would
     benefit. All Americans with employer-sponsored insurance would have
     to report the value of their health benefit as income, but they
     could deduct the full $15,000 no matter how much their insurance
     cost.

     The 17 million Americans who buy their own coverage would be big
     winners. And because the tax deduction would apply to payroll as
     well as income taxes, the benefits would be large even for
     low-income earners. So a family making $60,000 would wind up with a
     tax savings of $4,500, which would offset the cost of acquiring
     coverage in many states. Meanwhile, a young person making $40,000
     could buy a high-deductible plan for, say, $1,000 and actually get
     a tax break of $2,250 for doing so. The Treasury estimates the new
     deduction would add at least five million Americans to the ranks of
     the insured, but our guess is that would be higher given the
     incentives all of this would provide for new private insurance
     products.

   You can read the rest [1]Read the rest here.

   The goofily bitter crowd that automatically poops on everything the
   President ever proposes have already begun pooping on it of course.
   It's otherwise a fine idea that moves us in the right direction,
   making health insurance much more easily attainable and affordable.

   I could sure use a plan like this. I'm currently doing contract work
   and have no insurance at all. This would make it much more possible
   for me to afford to buy my own insurance.

   It's not the perfect plan but it's a very solid proposal. So now I
   guess we'll get to see if the Democrats in charge of congress are
   serious about wanting to be bipartisan and get things done, or if
   they're just going to stay in their standing reflexive Anti-Bush mode.

References

   1. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009569