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Hubby and I have just signed up for $272 per month of health insurance.  I think we get it pretty easy in Australia, apparently in the US it costs $11k a year to insure your regular family of four.  At least in Canada, you can get Medicare HMO Plans that cover the gap between medicare and the total of the bill.  I don’t think they call Australia “the lucky country” for nothing!

President Bush’s expected call Tuesday for more tax breaks for buying health insurance, and more incentives for increasing the use of alternative fuels, falls short of laying out a real, comprehensive plan to address the nation’s growing health care and energy problems, Consumers Union said.

    “Last year the President made health care and energy reform key parts of his agenda, and we’re still looking at record numbers of uninsured Americans and a growing reliance on oil,” said Bill Vaughan, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union.

    “If the President really wants to take the lead on skyrocketing health care costs and securing our nation’s energy future, he must put forth comprehensive strategies that truly help consumers,” Vaughan said.

    The President is expected to propose tax breaks for those purchasing their own health insurance as a solution to helping the 46 million of Americans without health coverage. But most low and middle-income families don’t have enough income to purchase health insurance even with tax breaks, Vaughan said.

    “Tax deductions do little or nothing for those people who are uninsured and devastated by high health care costs,” Vaughan said. “When an individual family policy for decent health coverage costs about $11,000 a year, tax credits of $1,000 to $3,000 to buy insurance are almost meaningless.”

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