So I know a little about McCain’s health plan, now I mine through Obama’s…

What’s the plan?

The plan is to make affordable, quality health care accessible to everyone.

Why Sen. Obama chose this position?

The cost of both health insurance and health care has risen almost exponentially. Because of the rising cost many poor and working class Americans aren’t able to purchase health insurance. Making health care affordable will reduce the number of uninsured and underinsured.

How Sen. Obama proposed to carry out the plan?

The heart of Sen. Obama’s proposal revolves around the creation of a national health care plan. Under this national plan, every American will be eligible for health insurance, regardless of health or income. Premiums will be less expensive than present day rates. And for those who cannot afford the premiums, subsides will be given. Participation in this system will be required for children and optional for adults.

A system of electronic medical records will also be instituted. The database will make a patient’s medical history readily available to professionals, anywhere. This will reduce medical errors by allowing doctor’s to make better informed decisions regarding a patient’s condition and treatment.

The quality of care will be improved through the research, design and implementation of procedures to eliminate medical errors and resolve inconsistency in services.

Finally, the plan involves the formation of a patient advocacy group… or the National Health Insurance Exchange. The aim of this group will be to make sure that the Obama’s plan is coming together as envisioned. The group will battle private insurance and big drug companies to ensure fairness for the insured.

So… what does all this really mean?

The Democratic candidates have been strong proponents for national health care, which is sometimes referred to as universal health care. There are many countries that have a universal health care system. In traditional universal health care, participation is mandatory, everyone pays the same premium regardless of the health and there are mechanisms to help cover the cost of the premium for the poor (in most cases, this means a subsidy). Premiums are usually prepaid through payroll or some other kind of taxes.

In a perfect world, under a universal health care system everyone gets the same quality of treatment despite their financial means. Poor people have the same access as the wealthy. On the flipside, the wealthy are not able to buy their way to better health.

Though Obama’s plan is often likened to a universal health insurance, there remains one big distinction. Unlike tradition universal health insurance, participation is optional… (well, except for children) and private insurance will still be readily available.

This can be both a good and a bad thing.

Here’s how I see it…

The plan is open to anyone, rich, poor, terminally ill or perfectly healthy - Ok, this is can make for a serious issue. I cannot remember the exact term I learned in a public economics course, but basically this will cause selection bias. If participation is optional, people will only sign up when they need it… i.e. they are so sick that they can’t be insured anywhere else or so poor that they cannot afford private insurance. I see the program as being as a hybrid of a puffed out Medicaid program and government funded hospice.

The participation base will be largely comprised of people who are too sick to be insured anywhere else. Therefore the cost of this program will be enormous because there will be proportionally fewer healthy people to balance it out. I mean, really, why get it if you don’t need… and if you do need it, no need to fret… it will be there, open to you at anytime. What insurance company can keep afloat this way?

Also, people who are able to afford private insurance are likely to remain privately insured. One of the biggest complaints about universal health insurance is that the waiting list for treatments can be very long. But those with private insurance won’t have to worry about this. They can buy their way to the front of the line… to sorta speak.

I think his plan is too hopeful. It’s good for those who participate. But I do not see how making a program that is basically geared to the sick or poor will aid in reducing medical costs. I think it will only help to increase costs.

But I do give him props, the man is sexy!