Bush, Kerry Health Plans Differ Sharply

I sort of hate to write about politics again since I didn't intend this to be a political blog. But I do write about what's on my mind, and politics has been on my mind a lot lately.

For the past day or so I've had a stomach bug. It's been going around; I was the last person in my family to get it. Before that I had problems with my chronically-ill sinuses, which are steadily getting worse. My husband is disabled. As an aspie I have trouble getting and holding down a job that offers health insurance. We're too poor to afford private health insurance and too rich for Medicaid, except for the children. (Here in Texas the ceiling is ridiculously low. You pretty much have to be living on the streets to qualify.) Happily my husband has Medicare and my children have Medicaid. Usually I can't afford to go to the doctor at all. So I found the above article very interesting.

Both plans seek to help the growing numbers of the uninsured. According to estimates Senator Kerry's plan would drop the numbers from 45 million to 27 million over 10 years. President Bush's plan would cover from 7 to 17 million, depending on who's doing the estimating. Quite a difference.

Bush's plan would use tax breaks and "market-based incentives" to address the problem. But what good are tax breaks when you're already too poor to pay taxes? Even if you do, the market would have to come down quite a bit for a tax break to cover the expense.

Senator Kerry's plan, costing at least $653 billion over 10 years, is certainly pricey enough. But at least we would be spending it on something worthwhile. And Kerry would pay for it by rolling back tax cuts on persons making more than $200,000 per year. Anyone making that much can afford a little more tax.

For an old hag like me to not get medical care is inconvenient. Here in Texas we have a lot of very sick children getting sicker for lack of proper medical treatment. That's obscene.

Texas is an easy place to live if you're rich, but pretty tough if you're poor. I worry that Bush wants to turn the country into a giant Texas.