Candidates refine health care plans

Health care advisors to both John McCain and Barack Obama explained their planned reforms to the health care system, but the speakers left many with concerns and questions.
In light of the upcoming presidential election, the senior health care advisors to Barack Obama and John McCain debated health care issues Thursday afternoon at Harvard University.
Obama campaign senior health advisor David Cutler and his counterpart in the McCain campaign, Tom Philipson, discussed each candidate’s plan to improve insurance markets and reforms for health care.
In the face of rising Medicare and Medicaid costs and stagnant Social Security funds, Cutler said Obama called for coverage of 98 to 99 percent of Americans and reducing health care cost for the typical family by $2,500.
‘We’re being very conservative about what our plan could do, but we think costs could go down more,’ Cutler said.
Philipson said McCain’s health care reform plan advocated increased competition in insurance markets, which Philipson predicts could reduce the costs of insurance by’ $20 million.
Both advisors agreed on the importance of paying health care professionals for performance quality and encouraged innovations in technology.
Cutler said he wants to modernize the health system, which wastes 40 percent of its budget on costs from medical mistakes.
‘Twenty-seven billion dollars are spent on people who get infected in the hospital from mistakes made in the hospital,’ Cutler said.
‘Obama believes that people working for the public good should actually work for the public good,’ he added.
Phillipson advocated a ‘gap program’ that would target federal money to help the 5 to 7 million sick Americans who were denied coverage by their preexisting medical conditions.
Panelist James Rebitzer expressed concern over the costs of both candidates’ health care plans in light of recent economic woes. Obama revised his $1.6 trillion reform and McCain called for a $1.3 trillion plan after the U.S. Senate passed its version of the $700 bailout plan.
To rebut the high cost for the plan, Cutler promised Obama’s plan would cover more people in 10 years.
‘If the economy is not recovering, some things will have to be slowed down or delayed,’ he said. Dealing with Wall Street is just part of [the problem].’
Philipson also acknowledge the high cost of maintaining McCain’s proposed plan.
‘It’s very costly to run public programs relative to private program,’ Philipson said. ‘You’re going to pay for this stuff with taxes or lower wages because employers pay your premium.’
Harvard Law student Michael Kolber said he wanted to hear more about McCain’s plans, which he said he feared would be too expensive for ailing individuals with high medical costs.’
‘I’m worried he will price out sicker individuals,’ Kolber said.
Harvard Law School student Lindsey Mutagh said the candidates did not mention as many specifics as she would have liked.
‘They talk past each other on this issue,’ she said. ‘I want to hear a real discussion.’