NPR: McCain Gives Specifics on Health Care Plan

McCain Gives Specifics on Health Care Plan

Arizona Senator John McCain visited a Tampa, Florida cancer center today, and talked up his plan to encourage a more competitive individual market for health insurance.

McCain called the lifesaving care at Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center an inspiration. The Republican presidential hopeful says the best of American health care should be available to everyone no matter where they work or how much money they have. Too often, he says, the health care system falls short of that goal. McCain has proposed an overhaul that's designed to help more people to buy their own insurance, rather than getting it through an employer or doing without.

"The health plan you chose would be as good as any that an employer could choose for you. It would be yours and your family's health-care plan, and yours to keep. When families are informed about medical choices, they are more capable of making their own decisions, less likely to choose the most expensive and often unnecessary options, and are more satisfied with their choices"

Proponents say having individuals shop for health care would create more competition and lower costs. McCain also proposed tax credits to subsidize the private insurance and letting customers shop for insurance across state lines.

Critics warn those individual policies could be too expensive for older people and those with serious medical conditions. They also say shopping for health care would be fine for young, healthy people, but provide little protection for the sick and elderly.

-- Scott Horsley

3:16 PM ET | 04-29-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Cut out the middlemen, stop insuring health care, it doesn't make any sense to cover health with insurance, not only is everyone going to get sick at some point, but it is preventative medicine which is most important.

The problem is, that the pharmaceutical companies need the ridiculous undeserved profits that they make off the insurers, in order to invest in progressive medicine. But they are putting it to waste.

Are they curing aids? cancer? helping prevent a pandemic? No they give us viagra and anti-depressants.

Wake up.

Sent by Jody Sol | 1:26 PM ET | 04-29-2008

The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized country in the world that does not provide universal health care. All of the E.U., several countries in South America (Brazil, Argentina...even Mexico is starting to put together a program), Canada and nearly all of the Asian countries have some sort of universal system.

The issue right now is that by law, insurance companies are required to maximize profits for their stockholders. It's a ludicrous system to have a doctor who is with a patient call the insurance company 1500 miles away and ask some smuck in a cubical if they can do a procedure or not. Affordable health care is a basic right that everyone should have access to, McCain's plan would not give me that. There are currently only 3 or 4 major companies in Vermont that do business here, plus the state run Catamount health plan. I don't care how many individuals you put onto the market at once, you have so few choices those companies are not going to be undercutting each other -- supply is low here and thus costs are high.

The Catamount plan has worked well for the two years it has been in service. Quite frankly, the State of Vermont has a lot more clout than one person -- this is where McCain's plan fails. Until you eliminate the greed and waste that goes with the privatized health care system, costs will never come down.

Sent by James Cutler | 1:34 PM ET | 04-29-2008

"Proponents say having individuals shop for health care would create more competition and lower costs. McCain also proposed tax credits to subsidize the private insurance"

and the invisible hand pulls a rabbit out of its .... (pssssst, that hand there is fishing around in your pocket)

because creating choice as the sole regulator has worked so well in creating universally acceptable cable service, mobile phone service, and credit card rates (are you aware that many legally chargeable credit card fees and rates in the US are illegal usury in other "1st world" countries fo which prison time and state prosecutions are involved).

perpetuating the myth that there's no issue a little "free" (the biggest swindle in the whole schmideology is the adjective) market "innovation" can't solve.

pablum for the pampered.

ps where is the nice math that socializing costs via tax credits gives us the best bang for the bucks? just another nice idea we do'nt have to challenge because so many talking heads will tell us "we all know its right?"

Sent by tim in exile | 1:44 PM ET | 04-29-2008

My employer pays over 700 a month for my fairly good healthcare that still doesn't quite cover everything. That's not much less than half my take home pay. Between childcare and health care, middle to lower income people would barely have money to pay for mortgage/rent, let alone groceries and bills. Because you know most employers wouldn't increase pay if they didn't have to pay for insurance.

Sent by Anonymous | 2:14 PM ET | 04-29-2008

People cannot afford FOOD, cannot afford GAS in their cars to get to work IF THEY HAVE A JOB, cannot afford their house payments and are being kicked out on the street by the millions and this clueless 'candidate' wants people to BUY THEIR OWN HEALTHCARE TOO? WITH WHAT? Employers are CUTTING wages, LAYING OFF employees by the hundreds, CUTTING benefits. Costs in EVERYTHING are going up up up! Most people who have lost good paying jobs that they could support their family on are forced to take jobs for considerable LESS PAY and for a wage they UNABLE TO PAY THEIR BILLS WITH EVER INCREASING COSTS BUT NOT WAGES! McCain is like the rest of those that GOT US IN THIS SITUATION!!!! Like Marie Antionette who was also clueless said "Let them eat cake". Benefits were given in lue of wages. Maybe employers should be REQUIRED BY LAW AND FORCED TO PAY THEIR EMPLOYEES ENOUGH MONEY SO THEY CAN PAY THEIR OWN INSURANCE!!! Companies are able to purchase GROUP policies for less than the individual. Congress and the Senate will need be put in the same situation as the rest of us before we see something done unless people take to the streets and revolt. How desperate must we become before people get fed up like in the 60's and 70's?

Sent by Les Legge | 2:37 PM ET | 04-29-2008

On the idea of universal health care. It's dangerous to create reliance on the government for something so essential as health care.

Sent by Jody Sol | 2:54 PM ET | 04-29-2008

Les, people nowadays will never get fed up like in the 60s... we're too doped up and complacent from all the medications that the pharmaceutical companies make you believe you need.

Sent by Angela Vetri | 3:15 PM ET | 04-29-2008

Hello Doctor. How much do you charge for an appendectomy?
I guess that is the McCain plan to control costs. The magic of the market will cure all. Yet businesses, governments and insurance companies, have been unable to do so, despite the fact that they have more leverage than individuals. Bush made sure that Medicare COULD NOT EVEN NEGOTIATE with drug companies in his Medicare drug plan. Our system is not the best in the world folks. We should be looking around.

Sent by Mike Fleissner | 3:29 PM ET | 04-29-2008

Sounds reasonable to me. Why throw the baby out with the bathwater? Why ruin the majorities' healthcare by turning into the equivilent of the DMV when specific problems can be solved by thoughtful solutions?

Businesses giving health benefits to everyone across the board is part of the problem; insurance works best when it is applied to individuals and not groups as a whole.

A huge market for all kinds of insurance would be great. American entrepreneurs find ways to fill niches better than anyone in the world. If you want your insurance to cover every nosebleed, fine, buy that, if you want catastrophic coverage, good go ahead, if you want the bare minimum then have at it.

Sent by deek | 3:30 PM ET | 04-29-2008

The point is that McCain says individuals shopping for care will control costs. It hasn't. It won't.

Sent by Mike Fleissner | 4:39 PM ET | 04-29-2008

I don't want insurance deek. I want to pay a doctor an honest fee.

Sent by Jody Sol | 6:41 PM ET | 04-29-2008

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
May we contact you with information about NPR programming and services? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Tom Regan

Blogger

About Us

This year's election cycle has been one of the most exciting in memory. At the NPR News Blog we'll do our best to bring you interesting, informative -- and controversial -- stories from our own reporters and bloggers, as well as the rest of the best of the Internet and blogosphere. And we hope you'll let us know what you think as well.

Want to learn more? Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions and our discussion guidelines.