Republican Candidate McCain Proposes Cost Effective Health Care

Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday at the Des Moines, Iowa, chapter of Rotary International announced details of his health care proposal, which seeks to expand health insurance to more U.S. residents and reduce costs, the Des Moines Register reports. Among other provisions, the proposal would:

• Revise the Medicare reimbursement system to pay providers for diagnosis, prevention and care coordination but not for preventable medical errors or mismanagement;

• Require pharmaceutical companies and health care providers to make their prices available to patients;

• Promote efforts to improve the treatment of chronic diseases;

• Promote the market entry of lower-cost generic medications and biotechnology treatments and establish a system to allow safe prescription drug reimportation; and

• Promote retail health clinics.

In addition, the proposal would provide tax credits of $2,500 to lower-income individuals and $5,000 to lower-income families to help them purchase private health insurance. Under the proposal, residents could purchase health insurance in any state through organizations, associations, employers or health insurers. The proposal would not require residents to obtain health insurance.

McCain did not estimate the cost of the proposal but said he would end a provision in the tax code that allows employers to deduct the cost of health insurance to help pay for the plan. In addition, McCain said that he would seek to enact legislation to eliminate frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits and excessive damage awards to help reduce costs.

Source-Kaiser Family Foundation
LIN/C