From TruthOut
By Dean Baker

With the Democratic presidential race winding down, the presidential campaign can again focus on the real issues facing the country. At the top of the list, alongside ending the Iraq War, is providing universal health care.

The reform of the country’s health care system is not only essential for ensuring people have access to high quality health care, it is also increasingly important for the country’s economic well-being. The inefficiency of the health care system is imposing an ever-greater strain on the economy.

The United States already pays more than twice as much per person for health care as the average in other wealthy countries. This gap grows larger year by year. Just as an ever-growing tax burden can strangle an economy, so can an ever-growing burden of health care costs. We won’t have to worry about tax burdens any time soon - among wealthy countries, we rank near the bottom - we do have to be very worried about the impact of health care costs.

Senator McCain has told us his plan. He wants to eliminate the employer-based system that insures most workers. Under “John Care,” employers’ payments for health insurance would no longer be tax deductible; these payments would be taxed as ordinary income. Instead, McCain would give each person a $2,500 tax credit they could use to buy their own insurance.

Under this plan, most employers would stop haggling with insurers and just tell workers to get their own insurance. While healthy workers might do O.K. under the McCain plan, people with serious illnesses, the ones who most need insurance, would have a very difficult time getting affordable insurance.

The basic problem is, insurers don’t like to insure unhealthy people. They lose money on people who see doctors frequently, get expensive drugs and medical procedures, and spend time in hospitals. Insurers will only insure unhealthy people if they can charge them a premium that will be high enough to cover their expected costs.

Read more Universal Health Care