McCain Proposes Guaranteed Access Health Plan For “Uninsurables”

From CBS News’ Andante Higgins:

John McCain will offer a plan today to help “uninsurables,” or people with pre-existing conditions including chronic diseases. “Those without prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions do have the most difficulty on the individual market, and we need to make sure they get the high-quality coverage they need,” he’ll say, according to excerpts provided by the campaign. “I will work tirelessly to address the problem.”

McCain will propose a “guaranteed access plan” with various states. “These programs reach out to people who are at risk for different diseases and chronic conditions and provide them with nurse care managers to make sure they receive the proper care and avoid unnecessary treatments and emergency room visits,” McCain will say.

“This cooperation among states in the purchase of insurance would also be a crucial step in ridding the market of both needless and costly regulations, and the dominance in the market of only a few insurance companies,” he says.

McCain will continue to reject a nationalized health care system. He says in the end it will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly.

“The key to real reform is to restore control over our health-care system to the patients themselves. Right now, even those with access to health care often have no assurance that it is appropriate care. Too much of the system is built on getting paid just for providing services, regardless of whether those services are necessary or produce quality care and outcomes. American families should only pay for getting the right care: care that is intended to improve and safeguard their health,” he says.