Obama: McCain health plan 'radical'

Politico

With families increasingly worried about their economic security, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is opening a major assault on what he charges is a “radical plan” by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to decentralize health insurance.

Bill Burton, national press secretary of the Obama campaign, charged: “Millions [would] lose the health care that they have.”

Obama is unveiling his new assault at a rally in Newport News, Va., this afternoon, and the campaign is following up with TV ads, radio spots, mailers and grass-roots events in battleground states, aides said.

“What John McCain doesn’t tell you is that his plan calls for massive deregulation of the insurance industry that would leave families without the basic protections you rely on,” Obama says.

“So here’s John McCain’s radical plan in a nutshell: He taxes health care benefits for the first time in history; millions lose the health care they have; millions pay more for the health care they get; drug and insurance companies continue to profit; and middle-class families watch the system they rely on begin to unravel before their eyes.”

Burton told Obama’s traveling press corps this morning: “In the next phase on the campaign trail, on TV, in the mail and on the radio, we are going to do two things: 1) Educate voters about voters about Senator Obama’s plan to get all Americans affordable, acceptable health care; and 2) Make sure that voters know what John McCain isn’t telling you about his health care plan.

“He loves to talk about his tax credit. But what he doesn’t tell you is that he taxes health care benefits for the first time in history. Millions lose the health care that they have. And millions more will pay for the health care that they get. It’s the same approach President Bush road-tested a few years ago. But if John McCain were to succeed where George Bush failed, it could have disastrous results.”

McCain portrays his looser health-insurance system as an advantage for citizens, calling it a plan to “use competition to improve the quality of health insurance” and to “Restore Control to the Patients Themselves.”

The McCain plan says: “While still having the option of employer-based coverage, every family will receive a direct refundable tax credit — effectively cash — of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset the cost of insurance.”

Alex Conant, press secretary of the Republican National Committee, responded: “Barack Obama is lying about John McCain's plan to provide more Americans with more health care choices. Obama's plan only offers more government, while McCain's plan offers more choices.”

The Obama campaign also posted an 11-page memo called “Five Pitfalls of the McCain Health Plan”: “[T]he McCain health plan represents a continuation of the policies we have seen over the last eight years, policies that have contributed to health premiums more than doubling, 7 million more Americans uninsured, and nearly 2 million more Americans without employer sponsored insurance."

Obama calls his plan an effort to “Make Health Insurance Work”: “Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums. ... Create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees.”...........