CANDIDATES GO CODE BLUE ON HEALTH CARE

The LA Times had an interesting article in Sunday's edition called "Candidates go Code Blue on Healthcare". The article talks about the plans offered by the Democrats and the Republicans. When it comes to the plans of Obama, Hillary and Edwards, the article points out that they differ in details and ambition, but diagnose the problem the same way. Not enough people have health insurance. The one big change each plan would make is that insurers would not be able to refuse coverage or charge higher rates based on preexisting conditions.
The Republican plans take a very different approach. Their plans are all based on the assumption that healthcare costs are skyrocketing because the American people use their doctors too much. Their idea, make us pay for care directly rather than for premiums. How do they propose to do that? Well, Rudy Giuliani for example wants to provide a fixed tax exemption for health insurance of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families. Romney's plan would do away with state regulation of insureres. It will be interesting to see what we end up with, if anything at all.