Obama criticizes McCain on health insurance regulation

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) over the weekend criticized Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) for an article that McCain wrote about the health insurance market in an "obscure journal," the Washington Post reports.

In the article -- which appeared in the September/October issue of Contingencies, a journal published by the American Association of Actuaries -- McCain cited the need to increase competition in the health insurance market to expand coverage and reduce costs. McCain wrote, "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

During a campaign event on Saturday at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., Obama said, "So let me get this straight -- he wants to run health care like they've been running Wall Street," adding, "Well, Senator, I know some folks on Main Street who aren't going to think that's such a good idea" (Balz, Washington Post, 9/21). In addition, during a campaign event on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., Obama said, "They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild," adding, "Now this 'great deregulator' wants to turn his attention to health care."

Reaction

According to Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior adviser to McCain, the comment on banking regulations in the article referred to a change in 1995 that allowed U.S. residents to bank across state lines. McCain has proposed to allow residents to purchase health insurance across state lines (Meckler/Timiraos, Wall Street Journal, 9/22).

"This is absurd," Holtz-Eakin wrote in an e-mail sent to reporters. "If Barack Obama thinks that today's financial troubles were caused by policies which allowed Americans to use an ATM anywhere in this country, then it is better that he continue to be silent about solutions to the crisis on Wall Street. That crisis arose from corruption and regulators asleep at the switch. It's also possible Senator Obama is simply a dishonest politician who will say anything to get himself elected and just isn't ready to be President" (Washington Post, 9/21).

The article is available online (.pdf).

Difficulties With Implementation of Proposals

The New York Times' "The Caucus" on Monday examined the difficulties that McCain and Obama could have with implementation of their health care and other proposals.

According to the Times' "The Caucus," McCain has at least "two vulnerabilities" -- "whether commitments he made to conservatives in primaries ... and the rancorous general election campaign would permit him to achieve bipartisan compromises as president," and whether he can convince voters that he would "address their everyday challenges." On health care, McCain "echoes" President Bush in "proposing to increase rather than temper reliance on market forces," the Times' "The Caucus" reports.

Obama "must convince voters he can deliver the changes that polls show they want," according to the Times' "The Caucus." On health care, "Obama's decision to eschew a universal coverage mandate might make it easier to open a dialogue with Republicans," but "Washington has repeatedly proved how much easier it is to block action than achieve it on this front," the Times' "The Caucus" reports (Hardwood, New York Times, 9/22).

McClatchy/Raleigh News & Observer on Sunday examined the "little hope" that the next president will have in efforts to implement his health care and other proposals amid the current economic downturn (Lightman, McClatchy/Raleigh News & Observer, 9/21).

Editorial

Obama and McCain disagree on few issues "as dramatically as they do on health care," although they both seek to expand health insurance to more U.S. residents and reduce costs, a Boston Globe editorial states. According to the editorial, the Obama health care proposal, although similar to the Massachusetts health insurance law, lacks a requirement that all residents obtain coverage. The editorial states that, without an individual health insurance mandate, "Obama's plan would never come as close to universal coverage," although "it would expand coverage."

Meanwhile, the McCain health care proposal would encourage younger, healthier employees to leave their employer-sponsored health insurance in favor of high-deductible, low-premium individual coverage and leave employers to cover only older, sicker workers, according to the editorial. The proposal "would drive up the cost" of health insurance for employers, and the "likely result is that many companies would drop coverage altogether," the editorial states.

The Massachusetts law will test "whether better access to health care does pay off in improved prevention and lower costs," but no test exists for the "radical revision of health care that McCain is proposing," according to the editorial. McCain has "endorsed a right-wing ideologue's vision: destroy employer-based coverage and turn Americans over to the tender mercies of private nongroup insurers in an unregulated environment," the editorial states, adding, "It's a prescription for disaster" (Boston Globe, 9/21).

Broadcast Coverage

NPR's "All Things Considered" on Sunday examined the McCain and Obama health care proposals. The segment includes comments from McCain adviser Gail Wilensky and Obama adviser David Cutler (Seabrook, "All Things Considered," NPR, 9/21).