The Candidates' Health Care Plans and You

(NewsUSA) - Health ranks second only to the economy among the top domestic concerns cited by Americans in recent national polls. And it's no wonder. Health care issues are coming home to a greater number of Americans.

Why has health care become so prominent? Health care spending outpaces economic growth. In 2006, the U.S. spent $7,026 per person on health care. Since 1999, health insurance premium costs have grown faster than wages, forcing people to spend an increasingly large percentage of their income on health insurance. Likewise, Americans are seeing dramatic increases in their deductibles and co-payments for covered services.

In fact, an April 2008 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that nearly three in 10 people earning between $30,000 and $75,000 annually reported problems paying for health care and insurance. Nearly four in 10 reported that, due to health care costs, they had to skip a recommended test or treatment, failed to fill a prescription, cut pills or skipped doses, or had problems getting mental health care.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans who are uninsured has jumped from 45 million in 2006 to 47 million today.

Republicans and Democrats are both concerned about health care, but they view the problem differently.

John McCain and Barack Obama both have proposed health system reforms. McCain's plan calls for using the tax system to provide incentives for individuals and families to buy health insurance. Obama's plan calls for requiring health insurance for all children and for all employers to offer health insurance or contribute a percentage of their payroll toward the costs of a public plan.

Neither plan addresses one key issue -; the role of the family physician.

Family physicians provide up to 90 percent of the care that patients need, and they refer patients to specialists for specific health problems. Nearly one in four office visits are made to family physicians -; that's 215 million patients per year.

Increasingly, family physicians are establishing patient-centered medical homes. In this model of care, family physicians lead the health care team in providing preventive care and chronic care management. They ensure the right care at the right time by coordinating patients' medical care with subspecialists when necessary, and they help ensure the exchange of health information among health care team members.

For more information about health care advocacy, visit www.familyhealthadvocate.org/