Obama-Biden Health Plan

Let's go over the Obama-Biden HealthCare Plan point by point.

Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums.

Covering pre-existing conditions isn't insurance. It's charity. Insurance companies will need to spread the extra cost by increasing premiums. This part of the plan gives a strong disincentive for people to get insurance. Would you buy auto insurance if you knew you could get coverage after you got in an accident? O-B will need to require coverage by law, like Massachusetts does.

Create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees.

Frankly, I would like to see health insurance separated from employment, not more tightly bound to it. This credit should be offered to those who purchase insurance on their own.

Lower costs for businesses by covering a portion of the catastrophic health costs they pay in return for lower premiums for employees.

I'm not sure what means. Who will be covering that portion? The government? In return the government gets lower premiums for employees? "In return" is a strange term to use then. Odd that the O-B plan doesn't simply mandate catastrophic coverage rather than get the government involved in paying health costs.

Prevent insurers from overcharging doctors for their malpractice insurance and invest in proven strategies to reduce preventable medical errors.

Insurance companies are going to prevent medical errors? Or the government? Isn't that something the medical profession should be doing? How much charge is "overcharge?" How about legislation to prevent giant payouts to lawyers for bogus medical claims? You know, the kind of thing that made Edwards filthy rich.

Make employer contributions more fair by requiring large employers that do not offer coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of their employees health care.

Hey, an O-B slip of the tongue! Admitting these contributions will be coming from "a percentage of payroll!" Repeat after me... "If the employer writes the check, the employer bears the cost, not the employee."

Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange with a range of private insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available to members of Congress that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health coverage.

I don't know any specifics of Congress' health plan, but dollars to donuts (a fair bet these days) it's creme de la creme. This is going to be affordable?

Ensure everyone who needs it will receive a tax credit for their premiums.

Free private health insurance for the poor? How poor? Is it ok if I ask what kind of coverage this will be?

Lower drug costs by allowing the importation of safe medicines from other developed countries, increasing the use of generic drugs in public programs and taking on drug companies that block cheaper generic medicines from the market

I agree with this, as long as patents are respected. However, I doubt this will work as well as promised. The fact is, some other countries regulate the cost of drugs more than we do. Drug companies are not going to allow the country with the lowest regulated price to act as a conduit for drug re-importation into the US near that lowest price. They will limit the supply to those countries. The countries will then threaten to ignore the patent protection. It will be a mess, requiring the US government to act to defend US drug manufacturers through trade agreements. Do you think that will happen?

Require hospitals to collect and report health care cost and quality data

Is there a hospital somewhere that doesn't do this?

Reduce the costs of catastrophic illnesses for employers and their employees.

Um... a little vague about the details there, no?

Reform the insurance market to increase competition by taking on anticompetitive activity that drives up prices without improving quality of care.

Activities such as? I think they mean there are too few companies. How is that to be fixed?

The Obama-Biden plan will promote public health. It will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

This isn't really insurance, because the cost of screening is a sure thing. If the screening costs everyone $500, the insurance company will raise premiums by $500 per person. It has to. Insurance isn't charity. Which cancer screenings will be covered? All of them? Wouldn't some cost/benefit analysis be in order?

Barack Obama will pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level.

... Under the plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year.

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe this O-B mantra of getting all this revenue from folks making $250k or more.

I read the more "detailed plan." Not really much more detail in there.