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McCain Calls For Health Care Tax Credit
Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants health insurance companies to compete for your business on the open market.
He would offer families a $5,000 tax credit to help buy insurance policies.
"Millions of Americans would be making their own health care choices again," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa.
"Insurance companies could no longer take your business for granted, offering narrow plans with escalating costs," he said. "It would help change the whole dynamic of the current system, putting individuals and families back in charge, and forcing companies to respond with better service at lower cost."
His campaign called the speech a major policy address, though McCain has talked about the same ideas for several months. What's new, according to adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin, is that McCain will give more examples of how his policies would work.
Still missing: The total cost of the plan and an estimate of how many people it would help. There are more than 40 million people in the United States who don't have health insurance.
"So, a little more detail, but remember, it is April, and the election's in November, so not everything will happen tomorrow or this week," Holtz-Eakin told reporters Monday.
Under McCain's plan, anyone could get the credit, and those who like their company health care plan could choose to stay in it. The credit would be available as a rebate to people at lower income levels who have no tax liability, Holtz-Eakin said.
To pay for the tax credit, McCain would eliminate the tax exemption for people whose employers pay a portion of their coverage, raising an estimated $3.6 trillion in revenues, Holtz-Eakin said. Companies that provide coverage to workers still would get tax breaks. McCain would also cut costs by limiting health care lawsuits.
The goal is to move the health care industry away from job-based coverage toward competition among health insurance companies on the open market.
"No one should believe that John McCain is of the opinion that the current individual market is a great place to go shopping for insurance; it's not," Holtz-Eakin said.
Critics of McCain's approach say it could leave sicker or older people without coverage; McCain's campaign says there would be a safety net to protect high-risk people.
Some Democrats weren't buying it. McCain drew criticism Monday from Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards.
"John McCain's health care program works very well, if you happen to be rich and healthy," said Edwards, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Democratic-leaning group.
McCain also would let people buy health insurance across state lines instead of limiting them to companies in their own states. He said companies that do business in multiple states have greatly reduced health care costs because they are able to offer policies in many states.
Democrats worry about this idea because it could exempt insurers from stricter state regulations, such as requiring coverage of mammograms.
McCain issued his own criticism of Democratic plans for health care, saying Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton want government-run health care because they seek mandatory health care coverage, Obama for children and Clinton for everyone.
"They want government to make the decision," McCain, who opposes mandates, said Monday at Miami Children's Hospital. "I want the family to make the decision as to what kind of health care they want for their children."
© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. He would offer families a $5,000 tax credit to help buy insurance policies.
"Millions of Americans would be making their own health care choices again," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa.
"Insurance companies could no longer take your business for granted, offering narrow plans with escalating costs," he said. "It would help change the whole dynamic of the current system, putting individuals and families back in charge, and forcing companies to respond with better service at lower cost."
His campaign called the speech a major policy address, though McCain has talked about the same ideas for several months. What's new, according to adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin, is that McCain will give more examples of how his policies would work.
Still missing: The total cost of the plan and an estimate of how many people it would help. There are more than 40 million people in the United States who don't have health insurance.
"So, a little more detail, but remember, it is April, and the election's in November, so not everything will happen tomorrow or this week," Holtz-Eakin told reporters Monday.
Under McCain's plan, anyone could get the credit, and those who like their company health care plan could choose to stay in it. The credit would be available as a rebate to people at lower income levels who have no tax liability, Holtz-Eakin said.
To pay for the tax credit, McCain would eliminate the tax exemption for people whose employers pay a portion of their coverage, raising an estimated $3.6 trillion in revenues, Holtz-Eakin said. Companies that provide coverage to workers still would get tax breaks. McCain would also cut costs by limiting health care lawsuits.
The goal is to move the health care industry away from job-based coverage toward competition among health insurance companies on the open market.
Candidates' Health Care Proposals
WebMD Details The Health Care Proposals Of The Presidential Candidates
"No one should believe that John McCain is of the opinion that the current individual market is a great place to go shopping for insurance; it's not," Holtz-Eakin said.
Critics of McCain's approach say it could leave sicker or older people without coverage; McCain's campaign says there would be a safety net to protect high-risk people.
Some Democrats weren't buying it. McCain drew criticism Monday from Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards.
"John McCain's health care program works very well, if you happen to be rich and healthy," said Edwards, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Democratic-leaning group.
McCain also would let people buy health insurance across state lines instead of limiting them to companies in their own states. He said companies that do business in multiple states have greatly reduced health care costs because they are able to offer policies in many states.
Democrats worry about this idea because it could exempt insurers from stricter state regulations, such as requiring coverage of mammograms.
McCain issued his own criticism of Democratic plans for health care, saying Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton want government-run health care because they seek mandatory health care coverage, Obama for children and Clinton for everyone.
"They want government to make the decision," McCain, who opposes mandates, said Monday at Miami Children's Hospital. "I want the family to make the decision as to what kind of health care they want for their children."
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There is no reason this program can not be used to cover everyone in the US. You pay a monthly premium and YOU pick the type of coverage you want.
http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/
Posted by IOWEIGN at 10:18 PM : Apr 29, 2008
I''m covered under my wife''s government plan (L.A. County) and they pay her a premium in her paycheck and then allow her to choose from several plans and take the money out of the premium, with the remainder as part of her pay. That way we can choose the plan that fits us best. the truth is that there are many creative ways to provide health care coverage for everyone. Some of them based on the Medicare model for some people and others based on the military model or government employee models. Different people require different services and require different ways to be protected. As long as everyone gets the health care they need then that''s what counts. Detractors always decry every proposal as not being perfect and in a sense they''re right. Not every proposal is right for every person, but they all better then doing nothing at all and having 42 million people, many of them children, unprotected.
Health-care is a right and it''s the duty of the government to provide it just like police services, fire protection, good roads, etc.
Posted by SgtRDS at 05:26 PM : Apr 29, 2008
Randy
I am retired Federal and am covered under FEHBP.
There is no reason this program can not be used to cover everyone in the US. You pay a monthly premium and YOU pick the type of coverage you want.
http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/
"Millions of Americans would be making their own health care choices again," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa.
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I have heard some dumb ideas, but this one takes the cake. Good God, John, you are smarter than that. Could you just for a minute quit playing suck-up to the far-right and get real.
At least now they''re admitting the tax incentive shift would result ppl losing coverage from work. But notice how they don''t admit that it''s estimated that 164 million people would lose their coverage, with 23million STILL not being able to afford the coverage themselves . . . that would increase the number of uninsured to what, 70-75million?
Nobody could realistically believe that individuals would have the bargaining power to drive down prices when corporations have collective bargaining power to demand discounts. Isn''t the chief goal of McCain''s plan to let businesses off the hook for providing health care so that profits will increase and therefore (hopefully) the economy will grow and therefore (hopefully) the number of uninsured will be reduced?
Free trade was supposed to achieve the same goal. The problem with privatization of healthcare is that as a life necessity if McDork guesses wrong, the government ends up footing the bill - ultimately, it looks like his plan is just more welfare for the rich . . .
Health-care is a right and it''s the duty of the government to provide it just like police services, fire protection, good roads, etc.
Posted by mudrose at 11:09 AM : Apr 29, 2008
In other words, nothing has changed. If an employer can not afford to buy health care for its employees and use it as a tax credit - how will the employee be able to purchase it. If an elderly couple has maternity coverage on their policy then the insurance company is money ahead and doesn''t have to worry about that expense.