When it Comes To Health Care Policy It Really Doesn't Matter Which Democrat Or Which Republican Wins Their Nomination

With "Super Tuesday" upon us, I am once again bringing back a post that argues there is little difference among the candidates in each of their respective parties.My suggestion is that you not cast your caucus or primary vote for a candidate based upon their health care reform plan.From “thirty thousand feet” the leading Republicans are offering much the same health care policy ideas—a more

Republican Candidates Wouldn't Have Been Able To Get Coverage Under Their Own Health Reform Plans

Republican presidential candidates have called for a greater reliance upon the individual health insurance market. But many of these same candidates have had cancer and wouldn't have been able to get individual coverage under their own health reform plans at the time of their treatment.Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar had a great story in the Los Angeles Times recently.Ricardo points out that Rudy

Poll Shows Democratic Presidential Candidates Attracting Independents and Moderates With Their Health Reform Plans

I was struck by this conclusion in today's Los Angeles Times regarding their recent voter survey:"In one of the most politically significant results, the poll finds that independents and moderates were generally lining up with Democrats in the healthcare debate."The survey also suggested an explanation for the emerging alignment: Independents were most likely to complain about "job lock" -- the

A Detailed Analysis of Rudy Giuliani's Health Care Plan

A Detailed Analysis of Rudy Giuliani's Health Care PlanRudy Giuliani's health care reform plan generally follows the Republican health care reform template that places the emphasis on making the health care market more effective in controlling health care costs and thereby enabling more people to be covered.Giuliani would remodel the income tax system to help people buy coverage and encourage

Rudy Giuliani Announces a Health Care Proposal That Would Provide Tax Incentives for Consumers to Purchase Individual Insurance

Rudy Giuliani announced that he will be proposing a system of individual tax incentives to enable consumers to purchase individual health insurance in addition to any employer options they might have. His proposals are also designed to shift the U.S. health insurance system away from employer-sponsored coverage.Under the proposal:Giuliani is proposing a $15,000 family/$7,500 individual standard

Wall Street Journal Sends Shockwaves Through the Health Insurance Markets With the Headline "Health Savings Plans Start to Falter"

It's the kind of headline I would have expected to see in the New York Times instead of the Wall Street Journal but there it was in Tuesday's edition.Vanessa Fuhrmans' article seems to have unleashed some pent-up frustration in the health benefits market on the subject of health savings accounts (HSAs) specifically and consumer-driven care generally. It is as if it represents a turning point for

McCain to Propose a Health Care Reform Plan--Both Democrats and Republicans Becoming Predictable on Health Care

Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain said this weekend that he is working on a health care reform proposal. He gave no time for its release but did mention a number of components:His plan will not include tax increases.It will not include any coverage mandates--presumably individual or employer mandates.He would make greater use of health care information technology.It will

The Mandate Myth--Health Reform Plans Don't Have to Mandate Coverage to Work But They Do Have Be Affordable

As the presidential candidates, Republican and Democratic, begin to come forward with their health reform plans, a side debate is heating up about whether any meaningful health care reform plan has to have a mandate, individual or employer.The reasoning goes that for health care reform to work we need to get about everyone in the pool--both in order to solve the uninsured problem and to be able

Giuliani Set to Announce a Health Care Proposal--But He Has to Make it Affordable for Everyone

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is set to announce a new health plan this summer that would provide incentives to shift private health insurance from the employer group model to the individual health insurance model, according to an article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal.Details are sketchy. We understand that it would still allow the traditional employer plans to continue, it

Giuliani, McCain, and Romney--Where Are Their Health Care Plans?

Looking at the leading Republican candidates for president you wouldn't think health care is much of an issue.In fact, finding anything the top three Republican candidates have said regarding health care is sort of like playing, "Where's Waldo."A recent tour of their official campaign Websites:Rudy Giuliani - Click on "On the Issues" on Giuliani's Website and health care isn't listed as one of