Obama's Health Plan Is Better

Your choice is between something that will work and have a great effect on society or something that will ignore the problem, barely have an impact and hurt society. As Dragnet would go, "Just the facts, m'am".

An analysis of the two starkly different approaches to reforming the U.S. health care system offered by John McCain and Barack Obama suggests Obama's plan has the best chance of making health care more affordable, accessible, efficient and higher in quality.

The report, released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, sized up the presidential candidates' plans for dealing with a health care system which has left nearly 46 million people uninsured and many more underinsured.

According to the report, Democrat Obama's plan would cover 34 million of the nation's projected 67 million uninsured people in 10 years, compared with just 2 million covered under Republican John McCain's plan.

Over 10 years, McCain's plan would cost $1.3 trillion and Obama's would cost $1.6 trillion, according to the report.

So Obama's plan would help 34 million people and cost 1.6 billion and McCain's plan would help 2 million and cost 1.3 billion. Does this make the news cycles?

Here's the major difference

Obama's plan seeks to build on the current employer-based insurance system, which now provides coverage to 160 million people, or more than 60 percent of the population under 65.

While over at the Legion of Doom:

McCain's plan seeks to put health insurance into the hands of individuals by removing tax breaks for employer-paid health benefits and offering tax credits of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families instead. About 20 million people would lose their employer-sponsored coverage under McCain's plan, but 21 million would gain coverage on the individual market.

Do you think people who lose their benefits through work will go out and buy it on their own? Part of getting benefits through work is that it's easy to sign up, pick a plan and have it come out of your paycheck. Once you get all these companies not providing health care, I bet you will see a lot more people going without it. Part to save money, part out of laziness.

Do the math: Obama helps 34 million or McCain helps 2 million.

Source: Washington Post