Elizabeth Edwards : Why Are People Like Me Left Out Of Your Health Care Proposal, Sen. McCain?

[RedEarth]

....from a few moths ago, but still current, especially since she is helping Obama with his health care plan(link below).........

Our guest blogger is Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Presidential candidate John Edwards.

Apparently Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy advisor to McCain, thinks I do “not understand the comprehensive nature of the senator’s proposal.” The problem, Douglas, is that, despite fuzzy language and feel-good lines in the Senator’s proposal, I do understand exactly how devastating it will be to people who have the health conditions with which the Senator and I are confronted (melanoma for him, breast cancer for me) but do not have the financial resources we have. In very unconfusing language: they are left outside the clinic doors.

Senator McCain likes to start speeches with a litany of questions that, presumedly, less plain-spoken politicians would refuse to answer. Well, here are some questions he does not ask but, as that plain-spoken politician, he might want to answer:

1. Under your plan, Senator McCain, would any health insurer be required to sell you or me (or those like us with pre-existing conditions) a health insurance policy?

2. You say your plan is going to increase competition to the point that it actually lowers costs. Isn’t there competition today among insurance companies? Haven’t costs continued to go up despite that competition?

3. You say that under your plan everyone is going to pay less for health insurance. Nice words, I admit, but they are words we have heard before. You must know when American families calculate the actual cost of health care, they have to include those deductibles and co-pays and not just the cost of the insurance. Are you talking about cheaper overall or just a cheap policy that doesn’t kick in until after thousands of dollars of deductibles have been paid?

4. Isn’t the type of competition you are talking about really a rush to the bottom? As long as you allow insurers to underwrite and deny access, you encourage insurers to offer plans that may be cheap, but that get that way by avoiding people with cancer or other high-cost diseases or by limiting benefits and treatments, particularly if the treatment is expensive or might be needed for a long time. We all live in the real world; those of us lucky enough to have health insurance have seen how insurers cut coverage and up co-pays or deny particular treatments. The insurance company makes money when it doesn’t have to pay for our health care. (I suspect that if they could, they would write obstetrical-only policies for nuns.) Doesn’t your plan really encourage insurers plans to compete to avoid people with cancer or other high-cost diseases? Don’t you think that the kind of competition that starts with a decent level of required coverage, that doesn’t exclude the care we actually need, would be better?

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/04/01/elizabeth-responds/

......and ........

Obama Says He's Partnering With Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care
By Greg Sargent - June 9, 2008, 1:42PM
Obama's speech in Raleigh launching his economy tour is underway, and towards the end, during a discussion of health care, he drops a surprise aside that wasn't in the speech's prepared remarks:

"By the way, I'm going to be partnering with Elizabeth Edwards, we're going to be figuring all this out."
More on this when we can establish the details.

Late Update: The key political context here, of course, is that back in April, Elizabeth revealed that Obama's health care plan wasn't her favorite. Enlisting her as a public voice on health care could obviously help with the Obama camp's outreach to women and help win over skeptics in general.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/obama_to_partner_with_elizabet.php

[grannylib]

1. I was so glad to see this. Smooth move indeed, to get Mrs. Edwards

who has indeed criticized McBush's policy, and preferred Senator Clinton's to Senator Obama's. This is a great move, and she's a great spokeswoman for change.

[Cleita]

2. The Edward's campaign understood the

problems in achieving universal health care. Hillarycare really didn't. Hillarycare was trying to be all things to everyone. I'm glad Obama chose Edwards instead of Clinton to hammer out his plan.

[chill_wind]

3. Obama said in one of his speeches today he was going to put Elizabeth to work

in his health care program. He didn't elaborate. Anyone else hear that?


K & R

[ashling]

4. Also, Carol McCain (1st wf) would be left out

:shrug:

[Vinca]

6. So would McBush himself. His own plan wouldn't cover him. nt

[ashling]

8. I'm not trying to be snarky

(it just happens, I can't help it :shrug:), but that was sort of a given in the original post, wasn't it?

[Vinca]

9. Not really, since McBush has the best healthcare on the planet

and will continue to do so. If he had to get in line with the rest of us he'd be on the outside looking in.

[ashling]

10. One of Elizabeth's points was that neither she nor him

would be covered


1. Under your plan, Senator McCain, would any health insurer be required to sell you or me (or those like us with pre-existing conditions) a health insurance policy?



so she addressed that issue, but it seems to me that a fair way to keep the "scumbag way he treated his first wife, deceit, and, did I mention scumbag?" issue in the news without being overtly negative is to tout the health coverage aspect a la Elizabeth Edwards' comment.

[midnight]

5. That is a very good question that all providers should be asked.

And that old-it's not medically neccessary isn't an answer! It is a bad excuse!!!

[LSK]

7. Obama continues to show that he is willing to listen and accept new ideas

As evidenced now by working with Elizabeth Edwards.

[KSCFAN]

11. Pre-existing Conditions

Just a quick question here. But why should any insurance company be forced to cover pre-existing conditions? If so then who in their right mind would buy insurance until they got sick?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Many chronic conditions that need continual treatment, for life.

Like diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, etc.