McCain Health Plan Again

Just an added note: the online chatter about health care has been fueled by Health Affairs (a nonpartisan journal) analysis of the candidates' plans. While the full text of the article is here, this is the conclusion the authors reach about the McCain plan (emphases mine):

Achieving Senator McCain's vision would radically transform the U.S. health insurance system. His plan would alter the nature, source, and financing of coverage for the nearly 160 million Americans who now receive health insurance through their employers. We estimate that twenty million Americans--about one in every eight people with job-based coverage--would lose their current coverage as a result of the change in the tax treatment of coverage. Initially, this loss of job-based coverage would be offset by an increase in coverage in the nongroup market (although not necessarily for the same individuals). Within five years, however, the net effect of the plan is expected to be a net reduction in coverage relative to what would have been observed if the tax treatment of employer-sponsored coverage remains as it is now. The decline of job-based coverage would force millions of Americans into the weakest segment of the private insurance system--the nongroup market--where cost sharing is high and covered services are limited. Senator McCain's proposal to deregulate this market would mean that people in it would lose protections they now have. These changes would diminish the security of coverage for most Americans, especially those who are not--or someday will not be--in perfect health.

The McCain Health Plan: Hold Onto Your Wallet!

Every cloud has a silver lining. Perhaps the silver lining of this week's economic crisis is that the candidates are once again talking about issues, rather than each other. So let's talk about an issue that McCain hasn't spent much time on: health care. And I don't understand why he isn't talking about it, as his plan will radically alter the healthcare landscape in this country.

John McCain's plan to provide health care to Americans is essentially reform of the tax code. If you receive health insurance through your employer, you don't pay taxes on the portion of your premiums that your employer pays. McCain would change that: this "income" would now be taxable.

Instead, McCain would offer a $2,500 tax rebate to all Americans for the purposes of paying for health insurance. But Americans won't get that money themselves--the health insurance company you select would automatically get that money to cover your premiums. And to incentivize cheaper insurance plans, if $2,500 exceeds the amount of your annual premium, you'll get the excess back. Of course, you can't spend it: it will be put in a Health Savings Account that you could use to pay deductibles or co-pays. (This is all detailed on the McCain website, here.)

McCain's theory is that if people are forced out of employer-provided insurance and into the insurance market, competition will magically drive prices down and make health care affordable for all. The New York Times' Bob Herbert has this to say:

This entire McCain health insurance transformation is right out of the right-wing Republicans’ ideological playbook: fewer regulations; let the market decide; and send unsophisticated consumers into the crucible alone.
You would think that with some of the most venerable houses on Wall Street crumbling like sand castles right before our eyes, we’d be a little wary about spreading this toxic formula even further into the health care system.

To me, the McCain plan is a bad idea on its face. But regardless of its merits, shouldn't Americans know that if they elect John McCain president, every person who has employer-provided health insurance will have higher taxes taken from their paycheck each week?

Don't Come To Work Smelly Tomorrow

Two fitness chains, Fitworks, and Urban Active, are offering free showers to the public, according to the Enquirer.

So if you're without power, stop at the gym before you go to work tomorrow.

Ike Damage

Question: What's missing from the following picture?

Answer: Check out the second pole in the picture. It's a street light, just like the others. Except it's missing its light; yesterday's winds blew it off. It was tossed, unfortunately, onto a parked car below. (The car was whisked away by the time I thought to take a picture.) No injuries, but the car was totalled.

(This is Fourth Street, standing at the intersection of Plum and facing west.)

Feel free to post descriptions of damage you saw.

Snarky aside: I still don't understand why WCPO needs two tickers to list school closings. I am amused, though, that on the larger (uppermost) of the two, they didn't find a way to get rid of the snow flurry graphics.

Oh Yes, It's a Chicken Dance Off

It's Oktoberfest Zinzinnati week so let's start things off with a Chicken Dance With The Stars.

Ike Remnant Recon

If you're at home this evening reading this, then just stay there.  Don't go out before sunrise unless you have to.

I hadn't realized the power problem is as widespread as it is.  Downtown, power is mostly on.  There's a couple intersections with traffic lights out, but power never even flickered where I live.  Yes, I'd heard the big number of customers without power:  I'd simply, mistakenly assumed that most people without power were out in Clermont, Warren, and Butler Counties and across the river.

So I went out to find some fast food dinner.  Big mistake.

Power outages are, in fact, widespread in Bellevue and Newport.  (That meant that at the restaurants where power was on--McDonald's, Arby's, and Frisch's in Bellevue--lines were interminably long.)

Power in Clifton, at least as of 8:00 pm, is apparently non-existent.  And when I say Clifton, I mean Clifton, Clifton Heights, and University Heights (and even into Camp Washington).  Widespread outages.  There's probably some damage.  Police had blocked Ravine Road from Central Parkway, and also McMillan at Clifton.  I'm not sure what happened in either place.  

Things on the West Side didn't seem much better.  There were spotty outages in Queensgate.  Further north, power seemed to be mostly out at Harrison near Queen City.

Driving is tough right now.  People seem to be mostly remembering their long-forgotten traffic school lesson:  when approaching a traffic light that is out, treat it as a four-way stop.  The problem, though, is that if you or another driver is unfamiliar with a particular intersection, you might not, after sundown, realize that you're driving through a dead traffic signal.

To sum up:  stay home.  If you can't, be very, very careful.

And I've emailed family members who live in the Florida area, petitioning them to ensure that in the future, their hurricanes stay where they belong, in the Deep South and the Gulf Coast.  We don't send them our snow and ice storms, so they should extend that same courtesy and keep their damned weather to themselves. 

Good News, Bad News

The bad news: it's going to be a long, long season at Paul Brown Stadium. The next interesting thing to happen there likely will be the 2009 Macy's Music Festival.

The good news: following the next two home games (9/29 against the Browns and 10/19 against the Steelers), you'll probably be able to purchase tickets quite cheaply.

UPDATE: I just thought of more good news. Since lots of season ticket holders will likely be willing to part with their tickets this early in the season, we should see lots of hotel business from our friends in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

That raises an interesting open thread: whose fans are more offensive when they come to town, Browns or Steelers?