Here's an article about the pros and cons of Bush's plan. Could it be that it wasn't any good and that is what kept it from going anywhere beyond a W daydream? Even Heritage said he didn't go far enough.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...252-9/fulltextUS President George W Bush has proposed using a tax deduction to make health insurance more affordable. But sceptics say the plan will help only the wealthy and is “dead on arrival” in the Democrat-controlled Congress. Michael McCarthy reviews the pros and cons of the proposal.
This is from a different article comparing health care proposals put forward between 2005 and 2007.
With the exception of federal–state partnerships, all of the proposals would transform the traditional role of employers by eventually scaling back or eliminating the extent to which they contract directly with health plans for coverage. The president's and Senator Wyden's proposals would achieve this in part by eliminating the tax exemption for employer-provided benefits and replacing it with an income tax deduction. The proposals differ in the extent to which employers would continue to finance coverage.
With the exception of President Bush's proposal, the plans would require individuals to have health insurance and require employers and individuals to share in the cost.
All of the proposals except the president's would provide subsidies to people with lower incomes to help defray the costs of premiums.
All of the proposals except the president's would pool health risks into large groups in order to equalize premium costs across families, regardless of health risk, and increase efficiency in insurance administration.
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publ...-Coverage.aspx
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