29. April 2008 by Jon Moss.

by Libby Quaid

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.

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7. April 2008 by Jon Moss.

Hillary Clinton	Barack Obama	John McCain
	CLINTON Requires everyone to have insurance. Insurers must sell to all who apply. Large employers would offer coverage or pay a portion of workers’ costs. Small employers would be exempt but could get tax incentives to provide coverage. A new public plan, “Health Choices Menu,” similar to the federal employees’ program, would be designed. A refundable tax credit would help pay for coverage. Premiums’ cost would be limited to a percentage of income.	OBAMA Requires all parents to have coverage for their children. Insurers must sell to all who apply. Large employers would offer coverage or pay into a fund. Small employers would be exempt but could buy coverage in a new system with subsidies available to some businesses. Creates a new plan for the uninsured and businesses that is similar to the federal employees’ health program. For employers who offer insurance, the government would pay for very expensive care, if employers agree to pass savings to workers.	McCAIN Ends tax-free health benefits offered through employers and replaces with a tax credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to purchase health insurance. Allows consumers to buy insurance from sellers in any state, which could be cheaper. Allows businesses and the self-employed to band together to buy insurance through associations, which they cannot do now in some states. Sets limits on medical malpractice awards. Allows importing prescription drugs from other countries.
The cost	Estimated $110 billion a year when phased in. Would be offset by cost savings, such as limiting tax-free health benefits for those earning more than $250,000 and ending recent tax cuts that income group received under President Bush.	Estimated $50 billion to $65 billion a year, with much of the cost coming from savings in the health system and ending tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year.	The campaign has not estimated costs.
Sources: USA TODAY research and the Kaiser Family Foundation

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