Voters weigh election choices

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Nov 2, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:00 a.m.

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Dessa Frederick will be anxiously watching the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election for one reason: she feels her health depends upon it.

The 39-year-old single mother of two from Prairieville is among the one in six Louisiana residents without health insurance.

Frederick, who handles the payroll for a local electrical contractor, says she can’t afford the premiums for the coverage offered through her company. Instead, she uses her money to pay for insurance for her two girls.

“God willing nothing happens to me, but I need to cover my children first,” she said.

Frederick, who gets her health care free through the Baton Rouge Community Clinic, backs U.S. Sen. John McCain for president because the Republican is proposing a $5,000 tax credit on health insurance premiums paid by Americans like herself.

His Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, would require businesses to either cover part of worker premiums or pay a 7 percent payroll tax to offset the cost of enrolling workers in government-organized insurance similar to Medicare.

Frederick said she would rather have the money to buy her own insurance.

“There is more money going out than is coming in,” she said. “I’m living paycheck to paycheck.”

She said she doesn’t blame her company, which can’t get the insurance discounts enjoyed by larger employers.

“They try,” she said. “They really do.”

Other issues facing the presidential candidates that are of particular interest to Louisiana include drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricane protection and coastal restoration.

Drilling
McCain has been a strong proponent of increased domestic drilling, including stepping up production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama has been an opponent of new drilling in the United States, though he recently softened his position to accept limited drilling as long as it coincides with investments in alternative and renewable fuels.