(I'm on the clock now for getting ready for work...)
I've yet to hear a rebuttal to my question of what the GOP proposes as an alternative to "Obamacare". I'm no fan of government mandated coverage... but the system as it exists now is NOT the model that we need to be working towards. Surely, no one with a family thinks that is the case, do they?
The average American pays $7,500 per year in health care costs for the typical family (four family members). Just for my coverage, I'm paying more than $5,200 per year, and I have a $500 deductible, per year per covered family member... plus a $20 co-pay each and every visit. I'd say I'm right at the national average right now... and only what is NOT covered (expenses above and beyond covered procedures) are currently tax deductible.
Coverage for the poorest Americans already exists in the Medicare/Medicaid realm... welfare benefits, in short. Coverage for the top 5% of wage earners is mute... they have the coverage and the deductibles and costs associated with coverage are negligible to them. It is only the roughly 8% of Americans currently unemployed, or the additional 18% of wage earners that are self employed with no coverage means that are truly "outside" the system. That is roughly 1 out of every 4 Americans.
If the penalty for NOT having coverage for an entire year is $2700 (under Obama), then why isn't the balance of what I pay suddenly and forever tax deductible? I could pay the $2,700... drop my current provider, and use the emergency room each and every time my kids have a fever or I stub a toe, and STILL save nearly $5k a year! I can't be held responsible for the bills if I am uncovered due to fiscal difficulties... and paying the $7500/year is a fiscal difficulty for me, no question. I take home an extra $394 each month, and all I have to do is factor in an additional $2700 to my tax bill come April 15. THAT is the flaw in Obamacare, if you ask me... it is unsustainable.
So, again I ask: What is the GOP answer to the question of healthcare reform?
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