Presidential Candidates
The three presidential candidates, Clinton, Obama and McCain, have different plans for healthcare. This paper explains why McCain's proposal is the worst and Clinton's plan is the best.
Despite the obvious problems with existing healthcare, McCain resists government regulation. Rather, he relies on free market forces and even on this tactic he appears weak. He essentially proposes letting people buy insurance in any state, tax credits to make insurance more affordable, and opening up cheap retail clinics. There are plenty of suppliers within a state, so it's difficult to imagine that this is a supply-side problem. Tax credits for won't be of much use to the millions of people who are already struggling to pay their bills for basic necessities. and, one has to wonder about the quality of care that a person will really receive at the shopping mall.
Obama's plan is certainly better than McCain's and would certainly move healthcare in the right direction. He recommends a national health insurance program for people who do not have insurance. He makes obtaining insurance mandatory for children, but not for adults. He offers guaranteed eligibility along with subsidies to help cover the cost of insurance for the poor. Still, one has to wonder if the poor will move forward with insurance even with the subsidies. Certainly, many of these individuals will make poor healthcare decisions without federal mandates for healthcare.
Clinton's plan is the best because in mandates individual coverage for all Americans. Like Obama's plan, Clinton would provide tax credits for working families to help them cover their costs. Just like individuals need to buy automobile insurance to cover their bills if they are in an accident, they should have to buy health insurance to cover their medical bills if they become sick. This is only common sense given that an illness can quickly bankrupt a family. Clinton's plan is also that only one that makes people do the right thing rather than relying on individuals to behave responsibly.
Bibliography
McCain's health care proposal emphasizes 'freedom'. (2007, October 11). CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/11/mccain.healthcare.ap/index.html
Providing affordable and accessible healthcare. http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/healthcare/
The time has come for universal healthcare (2007, January 25). http://obama.senate.gov/speech/070125-the_time_has_co
