Center for American Progress Action

Donate

Center for American Progress Action

RELEASE: The McCain-Palin Plan For Virginia
Press Release

RELEASE: The McCain-Palin Plan For Virginia

With Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin set to appear in Fairfax tomorrow, the Center for American Progress Action Fund released two new analyses of the impact of their plans on Virginia.

WASHINGTON,DC—A new report, John McCain’s Radical Health Care Agenda, describes the consequences of McCain’s health care plan for Virginia. Millions of Virginians could lose the coverage they get from their jobs, forcing them to shop for health coverage in a deregulated insurance market stripped of consumer protections. Many Virginians with health problems, such as cancer or diabetes, would find it particularly difficult or even impossible to find adequate coverage. Millions of Virginia families, and more and more Virginia families over time, would pay higher taxes on health premiums.

A new fact sheet, The McCain-Palin Plan for Virginia by the Numbers, provides a by-the-numbers examination of what their agenda will mean for the citizens of Virginia:

  • 4.5 million people in Virginia, including approximately 1.7 million women, have employer-based health insurance and are at risk of losing it under John McCain’s plan. [Source: CAPAF 1, 2]
  • 1.6 million people in Virginia, including around 890,000 women, with pre-existing conditions, currently covered by their employer, would find it particularly expensive or even impossible to get coverage under John McCain’s plan. [Source: CAPAF 1, 2]
  • A Virginia couple making $60,000 a year will see their taxes go up by $1,500 by 2013 under John McCain’s health plan. [Source: CAPAF]
  • The average Virginia worker has seen their real wages increase $3,400 since 2000, some of the fastest income growth in the nation. But from 1992 to 1999 real median family income rose $7,800 across the South. (Virginia-only data unavailable.) [Source: Census 1,2]
  • Virginia taxpayers will spend $1.1 billion on subsidies and tax breaks for big oil and gas companies under John McCain over the next five years. [Source: CAPAF]
  • Virginia taxpayers are paying approximately $290 million a month for the war in Iraq. [CAPAF analysis of CACN]
  • Since 2003, Virginia taxpayers have paid $19 billion for the Iraq war. [CAPAF analysis of CACN]

Both the report and the fact sheet are available in full at http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wonk-room-state-stats/