The Candidates on Health Care
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John McCain | McCain supports tax credits to encourage individuals and families to purchase health insurance and says that increased competition in the insurance industry will drive down prices. In 2005, McCain and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) proposed a national commission to study the nation's health care system and outline proposals for addressing spiraling costs. McCain has advocated making generic drugs more available to consumers and wants to ease restrictions on imported drugs to make prescriptions more affordable. In an April 2008 speech outlining his economic policies, he called for wealthier Medicare recipients to pay higher premiums for prescription drug coverage. He advocates tort reform to eliminate excessive damage awards on medical malpractice suits. |
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Barack Obama | When he formally declared his run for the presidency, Obama said his goal was to implement universal health care, or government health insurance for all Americans, by 2012 or "the end of the first term of the next president." He has called "belief in universal health" care one of the "core values" of the Democratic Party. Obama proposes a national health care plan, similar to that available to federal employees, that would allow individuals and businesses to buy health care. The plan would mandate coverage for children but not for adults and would be funded in part by projected revenue from allowing President Bush's tax cuts to expire. |
