PEP, September 2008: Compare the health plans by presidential candidates

Issues	Barack Obama	John McCain
Coverage for all	Obama would provide affordable coverage for all byexpanding public programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) and creating a new national health plan open to all Americans, with guaranteed eligibility (no rejections because of pre-existing conditions). The Urban Institute says the Obama plan would cover almost 10 times more uninsured people than the McCain plan.	McCain would not guarantee coverage for all. Instead, he wants people to set up Health Savings Accounts. These would have to be combined with private insurance with deductibles of $2,000 or more, creating out-of-pocket costs that most working people could not afford. He has no plan to curb insurance abuses, such as denials for pre-existing conditions.
Choice	Obama’s plan would offer a choice between the newnational plan, private insurance and employer-paid insurance. He would create a National Health Insurance Exchange to watchdog the private insurance market by creating fairness standards, and to make individual coverage more affordable and accessible.	McCain would not offer consumers the choice of an affordable, not-for-profit public plan. He would rely instead on the big insurance companies that are responsible for our current problems.
New taxes	No new tax on employees. Obama would require employers to offer their workers adequate benefits or contribute to the costs of the new public program.	McCain would add a massive new tax on working people by considering health benefits as income. He would offer a tax credit — covering less than half the cost of average health plans — leaving working families to pay the difference.
Controlling costs	Obama would repeal the ban that stops the government from negotiating lower prices with drug companies, which could result in savings of $30 billion. He would also allow Americans to buy lower-priced medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe.	McCain has no plan to use government’s purchasing power to negotiate discounts with drug companies. He would also reduce government oversight of health insurers.
Subsidies	Obama favors federal subsidies that would partially reimburse employers for their catastrophic health care premiums if the employers use the savings to reduce employees’ costs.	No subsidies to help employees. He supports the Bush administration’s subsidies to for-profit Medicare Advantage insurers, which are gradually privatizing the system, raising costs, cutting Medicare funds and giving employers incentives to cut retiree health benefits.