This Is a Joke, Isn't It?

In my email inbox this morning: >**McCain Health Credit Could Give Coverage to a Third or More of Uninsured: Low-Income Workers Would Benefit Most from GOP Presidential Candidate’s Proposal:** Washington, DC- A new Tax Foundation study shows John McCain’s pitch to replace a tax subsidy that favors high-income people with a refundable credit that favors low- and middle-income people would cover a third or more of Americans that are uninsured, leading to a net tax cut for most taxpayers. >In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 144, “McCain’s Health Credit: The Intersection of Health Policy and Tax Policy,” Tax Foundation Vice President for Economic Policy Robert Carroll, Ph.D., explains that the Republican presidential nominee’s proposal to replace the current income tax exclusion for employer-based insurance with a large health tax credit – $5,000 for family coverage and $2,500 for individual coverage – would sharply reduce tax-driven biases in America’s health care system. >“Because people would receive the full credit even if the insurance cost less, the proposal simultaneously provides a powerful incentive to purchase insurance and to purchase an amount of insurance without regard to income tax considerations,” says Carroll. “Less generous proposals have already been estimated to decrease the number of uninsured by over 15 million, so the McCain health credit would probably decrease the number of uninsured from the current roughly 45 million to 30 million and probably much lower”... Everybody should stop reading the moment Tax Foundation Vice President for Economic Policy Robert Carroll, Ph.D. begins talking about how health insurance plans in America today that costs less than $200 a month. Health insurance plans cost $400 a month for individuals, and $1000 a month for families on average--and cost more if you aren't in a group, and have to go into the individual market. The Tax Foundation is *not* repeat NOT an analytical operation. I have absolutely no clue how $2500 tax credits for individuals and $5000 tax credits for families are supposed to induce 15 million people who do not currently have health insurance to pay $3000 out of pocket for individuals and $7000 out of pocket for families for policies. I simply cannot make the math work.

Comments

[AuntieM]

My personal insurance is almost $800 a month. Admittedly a nice Kaiser plan, but the co-pays went up again this year. And that just covers me. Unfortunately, I had Possible Breast Cancer, since confirmed as a benign cist, but that was enough to deny me the Cheaper plan which would have cost me Only $400 a month. My son is another $200 month. My husband is 68 and on Medicare/Kaiser at $200 a month. So lets see 800+200+200 = $1200. Definitely more than $5000 a year. Plus we don't pay much in taxes, we live off my husbands Social Security, a pension, and savings. Do we get that $$ back, or if we don't owe $5000 we're sunk. Hm.
Looks like we lose.
PS We lost when the Rebates came up too. My son is a full time student and doesn't earn a paycheck, and all we had was SS & Pension. So all we got was $600 and not the $1200 everyone else did. Some rebate. :(

[Andrew]

FYI, the Tax Foundation has posted a response here:

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/23634.html