<div dir="ltr">But auto insurance is heavily regulated by individual states, yet it is very easy to shop around and buy auto insurance from companies nationwide on the internet.<br><br>There may be many reasons to end state regulation of health insurance, but making it easy to shop for health insurance is not one of the reasons.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 4:28 PM, Dan Rue <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:drue@therub.org">drue@therub.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="Ih2E3d">On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 04:08:12PM -0500, Mike Miller wrote:<br>
> That could change if McCain becomes President:<br>
><br>
> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html</a><br>
><br>
> I suppose the change would be good for someone, but I have the impression<br>
> that most people don't want to pay tax on their health benefit.<br>
<br>
</div>Egads, politics on tclug.. I'm not going to get sucked in, but just to<br>
clarify, from the link:<br>
<br>
While there might be less money in the paycheck, that would not be<br>
anything to worry about, according to Senator McCain. That's<br>
because the government would be offering all taxpayers a refundable tax<br>
credit - $2,500 for a single worker and $5,000 per family - to<br>
be used "to help pay for your health care."<br>
<br>
So, i'm not an apologist, but to clarify the strategy here, as I<br>
understand it. The idea is to move the burden of health insurance from<br>
an employer sponsored benefit to an individual family decision. The<br>
theory is that this will give employees more freedom to move around<br>
since they benefits aren't as important, and it will reduce a lot of<br>
employer overhead in terms of providing such benefits (esp for small<br>
business).<br>
<br>
Consider how auto insurance works. Individuals can shop around and the<br>
policy that best fits their needs and budget, and they're not limited to<br>
what their employer offers.<br>
<br>
More from the article:<br>
<br>
Yet another radical element of McCain's plan is his proposal to<br>
undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to<br>
buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in<br>
one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual<br>
physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless.<br>
<br>
So the author is showing his bias here. Currently, each state has its<br>
own set of rules for who can sell insurance and what it has to provide.<br>
Insurance companies have to invest considerable resources for each state<br>
their in in order to meet all of the individual rules and regulations.<br>
<br>
Again, like car insurance, the idea is to make health insurance more<br>
simple by removing the individual state regulations and allowing<br>
individual families to comparison shop for insurance nationally.<br>
<br>
Agree or disagree, it's thought provoking and worth debate (something<br>
lacking in the current political scene).<br>
<br>
Dan (I won't be following up, as we've veered way off topic)<br>
<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>