Compare and Contrast

The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed a fantastically comprehensive tool for comparing the health plans of the presidential candidates, both Republican and Democrats. It's sort of like how you used to compare laptops online, only now with coverage numbers and financing mechanisms. Using it, I learned such things as John McCain will control costs by "Us[ing] the free market to determine health care costs by promoting competition among providers," which is totally equal to Chris Dodd's plan to "expand the use of health information technology...initiate systems of chronic disease management with participating health plans modeled after the Veterans Administration and private integrated care systems, including the use of interoperable information technology systems and mechanisms to coordinate care between providers and levels of care...[and] leverage [his health market's] size and buying clout to negotiate premiums and to encourage adoption of a single claims processing system."

In any case, it's fun for the whole, wonky, family. Check it out.