McCain offers proposal for health-care solution

Washington Post

TAMPA, Fla. — Sen. John McCain rejected calls Tuesday by his Democratic opponents for universal health coverage, instead offering a market-based solution with an approach similar to a proposal put forth by President Bush last year.

McCain’s belief in the power of the free market to solve the nation’s health-care needs sets up a stark choice for voters this fall, in terms of the health care they could receive, the role the government would play and the importance they place on the issue.

Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have vowed government action to correct what they cast as a moral right for Americans to have health insurance. They favor mandates for coverage; McCain proposes tax incentives. Obama and Clinton would impose new regulations on insurers; McCain’s plan is designed to avoid direct regulation. The Democrats would build on the current employer-based system; McCain would shift to a more individual approach.

In a speech at a cancer research center here, McCain dismissed his Democratic rivals’ proposals for universal health care as riddled with “inefficiency, irrationality and uncontrolled costs.” He said the 47 million uninsured Americans will get covered only when they are freed from the shackles of the current, employer-dominated system.

McCain’s prescription would seek to lure workers away from their company health plans with a $5,000 family tax credit and a promise that, left to their own devices, they will be able to find cheaper insurance that is more closely tailored to their health-care needs and not tied to a particular job.

Under McCain’s plan, $3.6 trillion worth of tax breaks over a decade that would have gone to businesses for coverage of their employees would be redirected to individuals, regardless of whether they are covered by a company plan.

“Insurance companies could no longer take your business for granted, offering narrow plans with escalating costs,” McCain 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.”

Health experts predict a robust debate once the general election begins, as growing anxiety about the cost of health care plays out against a backdrop of a worsening economy, higher gas prices and rising unemployment.