Rudy Giuliani, certifiable idiot, on medical savings accounts.

I watched C-SPAN's Road to the White House last night and saw Rudy speaking to a group of people in a diner somewhere in Iowa.

He said that the best way to solve the under/un-insured crisis is to have a tax deduction. (Surprise!) How this would work is: you would get a $15,000 exemption on your taxes, then you would go out and buy a health coverage plan. This would, he argued, encourage competition because people would want to spend less on their health insurance, thus pocketing the balance of the 15k. And companies would have to respond to the market forces (magic word in Repub circles), so you might find an inexpensive one that was only....$9,000 per year!

Guess what, Rudy! People ALREADY want cheaper health insurance. Furthermore, the majority of the uninsured don't pay over 15k in taxes anyway, so they're not going to get that money in savings, and they don't have $9,000 laying around the house to go out and buy the coverage.

Are people stupid enough to fall for that bullshit? I guess so...

that $9,000 would buy him on the open market? Somehow, I doubt it. But Rudy doesn't have to worry. He gets his heavily government subsidized health care. The rest of us can eat cake.

and you could tell he couldn't wait to get out of there. He will say anything to get the nomination.

lady asked if he would use the money saved on useless Cold-War-era military weapons to reduce waiting lists for drugs for certain illnesses?

He said he wouldn't do it. He would use the money to "hire more soldiers."

there is no guarantee that insurance companies would even give all applicants insurance. Insurance companies ask detailed medical questions on applications for health insurance to weed out anyone with even the hint of a pre-existing condition.

I know a woman who applied for private health insurance as was denied because she had a seizure 17 years before following an automobile accident. She had a "pre-existing condition" even though she hadn't had any seizures since.

My sister-in-law was denied coverage because she listed hot flashes under gynecological problems. She did appeal and eventually got coverage but she had to jump through hoops to convince them that sometimes a hot flash is just a hot flash. :crazy: My other sister in law was denied insurance because she was over weight. She was eventually able to get 'catastrophic coverage' at a big price.

There are people out there who are self employed, who are willing to pay for insurance and are denied it by the insurance companies. Everybody needs to be able to have access to health insurance without conditions.

Mz Pip
:dem:

I'm self employed, I finally made enough money this year to get my family insured. I have a son with mild Autism, my wife has diabetes and we adopted a child with Muscular Dystrophy. Can't get anyone to insure us at any price. It's insane. My adopted son was on Medicare but when I started making more money they cut him off, no help from the government and no insurance from private companies. It really sucks.

has the potential of cutting into the insurance companies profit margin that just wouldn't do. :sarcasm:

This is one thing I never hear addressed by the Republicans. Most people who have incomes wouldn't mind paying something for health insurance, even if it just some minimal amount. The problem with the free market system is that it eliminates everyone who the companies believe might actually have to use it.

Someone needs to ask Giuliani how his plan addresses that issue.

Mz Pip
:dem:

my rate would have been $1750 a month with a $30 co-pay and $5000 deductible. The funny thing is I was ready to pay it, but oops, too many "pre-existing" conditions in my family. :eyes:

health savings accounts.They say it's the cure for those without insurance,These people can't afford a regular savings acct.,much less a health savings acct.This is just another way for the rich to hide their money.I can't believe nobody has called them out on it yet.It's actually a ridiculous plan.

Many procedures for catastrophic illnesses cost many more times $9000 - and they have to be done repeatedly. $9000 won't be much help on a $500,000 medical bill.

The fact is medical costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcies for the working middle class - a middle class that HAS HEALTH INSURANCE!

And, of course HSAs are no help at all to people who don't have the money to set aside for normal expenses - much less for regular savings or HSAs.