During the second debate, lost in the fog surrounding his hysterics over the "Grandfather Question" was a question from Stephanpalous to Allen regarding WalMart and Health Care.  What struck me was that Allen's response was about his plan to make health care more affordable for small businesses. 

While I support plans to help small business provide health care, WalMart is NOT a small business.  The question was what to do (if anything) about a company that schedules mostly part-time employment and so does not pay any health benefits to a large number of employees. 

By the way -- The question may be from the first debate not the second. 

What is so special about what Jim Webb's Health Care plan.  Most every american who works a full time job in this country for a large company is offered the same type of health insurance coverage. 

If you are an employee of a small business in this country, you may not have the same coverage options, if any.  The push by Allen to have health coverage extended to employees of small businesses is a noble effort. 

I might respect the nobility of the Allen health plan if:
a) he had accomplished anything on this issue during his various elected positions, and
b) every other health proposals he has supported wasn’t designed to maximize the profits of the health and pharmaceutical industries who have been major campaign contributors.

It’s an enormous problem: Health care costs are skyrocketing at unsustainable rates, outpacing general inflation by double digits year after year.  This squeezes both employers and individuals.  The ranks of the uninsured are growing.  Medical costs are a major factor in personal bankruptcy.  It’s not just small employers.  America’s largest employer (Wall Mart) doesn’t even provide health benefits to most of its employees.  Health benefits are a major financial cost for Fortune 500 corporations, who are competing in the world market with companies in the rest of the developed world who do not have that expense because health care is provided by their governments.  This restricts job creation and is a factor in outsourcing jobs to other countries. The U.S. pays much more for health care than other countries and receives less benefit.

Webb favors a more comprehensive approach, similar to the current experiment taking place in Massachusetts (under a Republican Governor).

On the actual campaign website in the issues section, there still isn't an easily accessible area with these new position statements.

Any chance to update the actual campaign website?

I know for myself (and what I'm 2% of the number of voters?)
I will look for position statements on issues x,y,z and vote accordingly.  If I can't find 'em, I might take the time to go dig but if the other candidate has 'em and I like 'em, I'll go *that way*.

Good to see discussions on the issues rather than stuff about Jews or macacas or stuff that really isn't important.  I am off to Webb headquarters right now!

What is so special about what Jim Webb's Health Care plan.  Most every american who works a full time job in this country for a large company is offered the same type of health insurance coverage -- blackamerican (I have my doubts)

Blackamerican, I realize you come here mostly to annoy, but I'll pretend that yours is truly an enquiring mind which really wants to know... Everyone else, apologies -- this is going to be long.

+++++++++++++++++

1) I'm not sure what you'd describe as a "large company" -- apparently, WalMart isn't large enough to qualify. Since not all that many are larger than it, I don't know how many people would be covered.

2) I'm not sure what you mean by "the same type of health plan". The same as that which the Congress gets (as is Webb's aim)? I don't think so.

3) Your stipulation of "who works full time" is, to an extent, key to the problem. More and more companies will not offer you a full time job, *specifically* so they can get away without having to contribute to benefits like healthcare. What happens then is you work 30 hrs at one place and 20 at another, but you're still on your own, bare butt to the ice, when it comes to healthcare.

And, of course, you're also stuck if your employer decides to change the ground rules under you and doubles your co-payment. Or if, through no fault of your own, you lose a job (every time my son's employer laid off another 25000 people, it was a clear saving, which allowed them not to post loss for a quarter)...

Additionally, those employers who do offer some sort of safety net health-wise, do it through an HMO. And each employer does it through a different HMO-plan. The result of this fragmentation is that, out of every dollar, more is spent on administrative costs than on actual healthcare. Not to mention that, because HMOs are businesses (and have to show profit), your care, if you get it, isn't going to be too great. HMOs dictate to doctors how much time they can spend per patient and to the hospitals how long you can occupy a bed post-op. Your actual *needs* don't figure in that equation at all.

Allen's plan is to fleece you twice: once through the federal subsidy to "small" businesses (your tax-dollars) and once more directly, through the co-payment (and through further reduction of what you get fot that money). The clear winners are the HMOs and the businesses. The employee? Is hung out to dry.

OK. Now, what's the Webb-difference? As usual, it's the combat boots vs cowboy boots. The first are plain vanilla and on the ground, the second are snakeskin in the air.

With Webb's plan, you'd have if not totally universal (the whole country), then, at least, state health plans (he mentioned the recent Massachusssetts plan as one of the possibilities, when I asked. I was thinking more about the VA model which he also allowed might be an option to consider). But, whichever, you would be dealing with a much bigger pool of contributors and a much smaller pool of administrators. That's cheaper, per capita, to manage. Then too, a big plan like that has much more muscle to negotiate better terms with hospitals; it could even run its own hospitals (the way VA does). That's a saving for *you*, even though not for the CEOs of the multitude of HMOs.

For me, the beauty of such an universal plan is also this: it *covers everyone*. Big business and small business; self-employed and un-employed... Have you any idea how much it costs for the uninsured to go through the Emergency care? All that cost -- higher than need be -- is also passed on to you. It is passed onto you regardless, but it would be a heck of a lot less. And if the plan was bundled up with a universal drug plan (the way VA's is)... Bliss :)

I was a little disappointed not to see anything about the preventive care in the "side by side" sheet, because I know Webb is not only aware of its importance but keenly for it -- when I asked a generic question about healthcare (at his appearance in BV ca 12 days ago), it was *he* who mentioned the issue.

And it's a *vital* one in our ailing national healthcare. At the moment, nobody -- with the exception of some doctors -- has any interest in preventive medicine. It doesn't pay, so no businesses -- not those who produce prostheses and stents, not the hospitals, not the HMOs not the Big Pharma -- are interested in it. They don't want to teach you how to eat well, exercise and come for regular check-ups; there's no money in that. The money is in having you sick -- the diabetes pump, the body on the hospital bed (just long enough to use all the fancy machinery)... all of those are much more profitable and make stockholders say "good show!"

So yes, I do think Webb's approach to Health Care is not only "special" but damned-near visionary. Allen's "vision", OTOH, is built on the "hand-washes-hand" principle; it extends only so far as his campaign money, which he gets from the big interests for the services either already rendered or about to be rendered.

That'll do you, for starters?

Long as the comment was, I still forgot to mention that a health-plan which covered an entire state would also be "portable" -- from job to job, from town to town. As things are now, trying to find a doctor that's registered with "your" plan... I'd as soon not go to a doctor but head directly for the mortician.

And Allen is a member of the majority.  Has he introduced legislation?  Or is he mostly busy with toaster tariffs?  Does anyone know if Allen has accomplished anything in this area?

(I think if he had, we'd be hearing about it.)