Defending Bush’s Health Care Plan

Tuesday, February 27th 2007
Healthcare Policy • Health News • Politics • Uninsured • Healthcare Costs • Insurance

“Insurance? Market?”

Conceding that health care reform over the next decade will have to provide coverage for virtually everyone in this country, which would I rather see:

• A mandate (individual and some sort of pay-or-play deal), with tax breaks, and overreaching regulation of the insurance industry to make coverage affordable
• Or a plan implementing some sort of massive expansion of either social insurance (Medicare-For-All) or public assistance?

While having objections to both, the two are clearly not equal under my personal political philosophy. The first one is more desirable. And Bush’s individual market tax break/employer funded tax “levy (?)” proposal is a step in that direction.

Via Managed Care Matters comes a series of posts on Health Care Policy & Marketplace Blog arguing that the private market (with, unfortunately, some government encouraging) can work to dramatically expand health insurance coverage in this country.

Here’s the most telling post explaining why the plan is a step in the right direction and here’s a post offering the most optimism I’ve seen considering the Democratic controlled Congress.