McCain promotes health care proposal at Miami Children's Hospital

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Monday at the Miami Children's Hospital promoted his health care proposal, which he said would "put families in charge," USA Today reports (Jackson, USA Today, 4/29).

McCain has proposed to replace a tax break for employees who receive health insurance from employers with a refundable tax credit for the purchase of private coverage and to allow the purchase of health insurance across state lines -- both of which he maintains would promote competition among health insurers, reduce costs and improve quality.

According to McCain, the proposal is "responsive to the needs of American families -- not the government, not the insurance companies, not the tort lawyers, not even the doctors and hospitals" (CNN.com, 4/28). He added, "I've made it very clear that what I want is for families to make decisions about their health care, not government," which he cited as the major difference between his proposal and the plans announced by Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) (Reinhard, Miami Herald, 4/29).

Health care is "too expensive," McCain said, adding, "These costs are a threat to the ability of Americans to have health insurance, the gateway to better health care" (CNN.com, 4/28). In addition, he said, "We must move away from a system that is fragmented and pays for expensive procedures, toward one where a family has a medical home, providers coordinate their efforts and take advantage of technology to do so cheaply, and where the focus is on affordable quality outcomes." McCain added, "America can have a health care system that is characterized by better prevention, coordinated care, electronic health records, cutting edge treatments -- and lower costs" (Reuters, 4/29).

Criticism

In response to the comments from McCain, the Democratic National Committee said that he is "promising four more years of the Bush health care agenda" (CNN.com, 4/28). Critics argue that the McCain proposal would limit access to health insurance for low-income residents and those with pre-existing medical conditions. In addition, they maintain that his proposal would prompt health insurers to relocate to states with fewer coverage requirements.

On Tuesday, McCain will deliver a policy speech at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., that will focus on health care. According to an advance copy of the speech obtained by the Associated Press, McCain will argue that his proposal "would help change the whole dynamic of the current system, putting individuals and families back in charge, and forcing companies to respond with better services at lower costs" (Quaid, AP/Houston Chronicle, 4/29).

Clinton Opinion Piece

Medicare represents a "sacred promise to our seniors and to future generations of American workers," but "the biggest threat" to the program is "skyrocketing health costs," Clinton writes in a Charlotte Observer opinion piece. She writes, "Protecting and strengthening" Medicare "will be a top priority of my administration." According to Clinton, "I will allow imports of certain drugs, remove barriers to generic competition and work to close the 'doughnut hole' in the Medicare prescription drug program," as well as "crack down on overpayments to HMOs in Medicare, which will save more than $10 billion a year."

She adds, "My health plan includes the most aggressive cost-cutting measures of all the candidates," with a focus on "prevention, electronic medical records and chronic care management." In addition, "I have the only plan that will cover every single American," Clinton writes, adding, "Universal health care is essential for lowering health care costs" because when "the uninsured get sick and go to the emergency room for care, we all end up paying in health premiums" (Clinton, Charlotte Observer, 4/28).