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'Kerry Clueless on Health Care


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'Kerry/Kennedy Care' – Prescription for Disaster

Democratic Presidential Candidate Has Clueless Health Care Record

Author: Conrad F. Meier

Published: The Heartland Institute 03/18/2004

Not many of us would deny health care is a major social issue and that an open and honest discussion is important. Unfortunately, the social side of the issue gets short shrift because it is all so politically driven.

During his campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President, Senator Kerry (D-Massachusetts) took a moderate and narrowly defined position on health care reform, carefully casting himself as the spokesman for an unheard majority. Now, with the nomination in his back pocket, he begins to look more like Senator Ted Kennedy's (D-Massachusetts) national health care puppet.

Since Republicans have succeeded in passing major health care reform legislation in the manner of health savings accounts, tax credits and prescription drug benefits, Kerry has little choice but to detail his plans for health care reform, even though they go in the opposite direction of consumer-driven care. Kerry must also compete with further viable reform measures currently in the works from Republicans.

POLICY ADRIFT

The first disingenuous position Kerry takes is in his support for expanding the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) to private citizens. Anybody who understands health insurance knows that's a no-brainer. On the other hand, he and many of his fellow Democrats are seeking to amend the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, because it begins the process that would make Medicare function more like the FEHB.

Kerry also seeks to expand eligibility to the State Children's Health Insurance Plan to age 24. In addition to adding greater stress on state budgets, expansion of this entitlement to an older generation is pure pandering in an effort to get the youth vote by offering them free health insurance. Kerry also supports (surprise) easy access to health insurance for individuals.

But part of that issue has already been resolved by Republicans. He must have forgotten this is the year the self-employed can take a 100 percent tax deduction for their health insurance premiums.

LIBERAL IDEAS

As Kerry more clearly defines Kennedy's vision as his own vision, he now dusts off the old employer mandate scheme in a way that moves the country towards the cherished liberal goal of mandating all employers to provide health coverage to all employees.

Kerry remains clueless as to understanding employer-sponsored health insurance is the least efficient way to provide benefits and that most employers would prefer to be out of health insurance benefit business. Kerry needs to be reminded employers are not in the business of providing health insurance. They are in the business of providing jobs. The Kerry mandate scheme forces employers to become health insurance companies by government edict.

Nevertheless, his plan would have the federal government (read your tax dollars) take over high health care costs for employers by reimbursing employer health plans for 75% of the catastrophic costs above $50,000. Details are a bit sketchy right now, but one has to assume it's the insurance company that gets the reimbursement, since the employer does not pay for the medical care. All of this may be a moot, however, since Kerry says this is the kind of corporate welfare he wants to abolish: another John Kerry two-step, flip-flop, trying to have it both ways policy position.

In addition, having the government take over catastrophic health costs is also a slippery slope leading to less incentive for employers to manage costs. The reverse incentive is for employers to get high health-cost employees workers off company insurance plans and into Kerry's federal entitlement plan as soon as possible.

The lack of understanding of the real health insurance problem indicates to me a man out of touch with the facts. The largest percentage of people who are uninsured are lower to middle income individuals employed by small businesses that cannot afford the cost of health benefit plans. An employer mandate does nothing to help them and may even force many small employers out of business.

While that may be the opposite of Kerry's intent, the employer mandate shifts more of the burden to employers as the default providers of health insurance.

We understand, given health insurance is a victim of politics, Kerry has focused on the employer mandate for purely political reasons: he needs labor unions endorsements and labor wants employer mandates.

BEYOND THE SPIN

According to the Kerry voting record summarized by Congressional Quarterly, Kerry voted in lockstep with Senator Kennedy in each of 10 years between 1985 and 2001. Over the course of his political career, Kerry has sided with Kennedy 94 percent of the time when key votes were taken on Kennedy's favorite cause: a government-run national health care plan.

Kerry has supported the Patient Bill of Rights, Mental Health Parity, the Nurse Reinvestment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, to name a few.

Each of those measures imposes significant unfunded regulatory and procedural mandates on health care providers and the health insurance industry. Published research has shown these mandates have increased the overall cost of health care and health insurance. And that, in turn, has led to historically high uninsured statistics.

If elected, Kerry says he would pass more of the very legislation that has caused most of our problems. We need leadership that takes us forward, not backward. Kerry/Kennedy Care is indeed a prescription for disaster for US taxpayers.

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=14622

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Kerry remains clueless as to understanding employer-sponsored health insurance is the least efficient way to provide benefits and that most employers would prefer to be out of health insurance benefit business.

Last Wed. in Grad school, I finally came to the conclusion that NHC is a bad idea whose time has come. It will be awful, the waits and costs will be horrendous. THe boobs in the Fed Govt cant manage a wet dream nor a good fart but they will get health care.

The reason I say this "it will curb business expenses and save jobs, mainly high tech jobs. It may stop off shore out sourcing for a long while.""

So I guess we can all look forward to bad healthcare and arguing with totally indifferent civil servants the rest of our lives. :nopity:

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So I guess we can all look forward to bad healthcare and arguing with totally indifferent civil servants the rest of our lives. :nopity:

I can guarantee you that Kerry will not be waiting in any lines or receiving average health care; he is not going to wait any longer than necessary for his next botox injection...

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Kerry has no idea what he wants, who he speaks to, or what the leaders of France, Germany, or Russia want him to do for them if he becomes prez.

We are our own nation, and with G.W. Bush, you can rest assured, you will have it. Kerry is just another socialistic communist who wants to be the leader of capitalism.

Do we want this kind of mess in charge. We may as well just invite Osama into our living rooms if Kerry is the man.

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