Slightly aware that health care is a concern for Americans, McCain is leaning on former Senator Phil Gramm as the expert. When they say "revolutionary" what they really mean is a few decades of GOP talking points that have all been proven to be false (and costly) during this second Bush recession in seven years. Leave it all to the market, just as they left it to the market to work out home loans, food safety and Wall Street practices in general. If you think you have problems today, this "anything goes" environment can only mean even more profits for industry, less coverage for Americans and more chaos. Wow, let's all get in line for this.
Putting aside the fraudulent claims of fiscal conservatism (don't they all say that until they have a majority?) McCain is hinting at a bold new health care plan that will turn the world upside down. Ready for this? Tax rebates. Yes, tax rebates. I know, really radical and worth waiting for. I'm still running the numbers on how this will benefit the almost 50 million uninsured Americans who don't have enough money to give a damn about a $2500 or $5000 tax rebate that won't change their taxes, but hey, Gramm is a economics genius. Just ask him! What we all need in 2008 after years of business getting everything is a Wild West free market health care system. This is precisely what we all are begging to have because everyone has so much free time to navigate their new crazy system.
Today, McCain is advocating a plan that's radically different from those of Clinton and Barack Obama, and - if he goes all the way by following Gramm - could revolutionize America's healthcare system. For McCain and Gramm, the problem with our healthcare system - and the reason why over 47 million Americans are uninsured - is that it's excessively, scandalously expensive. The solution, they say, is to let Americans shop for healthcare with their own money. McCain advocates giving tax rebates of $2500 per individual or $5000 per family. With that money, families could purchase policies on their own. What's truly radical about the plan is that it eliminates the tax exclusion for healthcare benefits offered by companies to their employees, and replaces it with the $2500 to $5000 rebates.
Consumers could then use that cash to buy their own insurance in what Gramm foresees as a vibrant, consumer-driven marketplace for healthcare packages.
