Obama Cites Comments From McCain Adviser In Criticism Of Health Care Plan

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 30 Oct 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Tuesday during a campaign stop in Harrisonburg, Va., cited comments by an adviser to Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in criticism of the McCain health care proposal, the Los Angeles Times reports.

In recent weeks, analysts have said that the McCain health care proposal -- which would replace an income tax break for employees who receive health insurance from employers with refundable tax credits -- would prompt younger, healthy workers to leave employer-sponsored health plans and prompt employers to drop the plans. In response, McCain senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin in a recent CNNMoney.com article said, "Why would they leave?" adding, "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."

Obama said that the comments highlighted the "point I've been making since Sen. McCain unveiled his plan." He added, "It took until the last seven days of this election for his campaign to finally admit the truth, but better late than never" (Mehta/Reston, Los Angeles Times, 10/29). Obama said, "The truth is, John McCain's health care plan is radical, it's unaffordable, and it's not the change we need right now" (Chen/Nichols, Bloomberg, 10/29).

Holtz-Eakin said that Obama misrepresented his comments (Los Angeles Times, 10/29). Holtz-Eakin said, "The question I answered was: 'Will the young and healthy leave their generous employer-sponsored coverage as the Obama campaign claims?' My response was that, obviously, if they had better coverage, they would not change," adding, "The Obama campaign deliberately took the quote out of context. This continues their disgraceful campaign" (Barnes, "The Trail," Washington Post, 10/28).

Examination of Health Care Proposals
Several newspapers recently examined the Obama and McCain health care proposals. Summaries appear below.

• The Detroit Free Press on Wednesday examined several provisions in the Obama and McCain health care proposals, potential problems with the plans and the effect that the proposals would have on employers (Anstett, Detroit Free Press, 10/29).
  
  
• The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel- on Wednesday examined the positions of Obama and McCain on health care and other issues (Fort Wayne News-Sentinel¬, 10/29).
  
  
• The New York Times on Wednesday examined health care and other proposals announced by Obama and McCain that could increase the federal budget deficit. According to the Times, analysts agree that in "the long run ... the president's fiscal record will hinge on whether he can achieve the health care cost savings each promises, which in turn will help control the fast-rising expenses for Medicare and Medicaid," but neither "candidate has a comprehensive proposal to address unsustainable growth in those programs" (Calmes, New York Times, 10/29).
  
  
• The Washington Post on Wednesday published two articles that examined the Obama and McCain health care proposals. According to the Post, the Obama proposal is similar to the Massachusetts health insurance law but lacks a requirement that all residents obtain coverage (Goldstein [1], Washington Post, 10/29). Meanwhile, the McCain proposal would provide federal subsidies for high-risk health insurance pools to help residents who cannot obtain private coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions, a provision similar to a Minnesota program, the Post reports. (Goldstein [2], Washington Post, 10/29).

Ad Encourages Discussion of Chronic Diseases
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease has begun a $1 million advertising campaign that features female celebrities who ask Obama and McCain about their positions on health care and spending to prevent chronic diseases, the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" reports. In the ad, actresses Mary Louise Parker, Phylicia Rashad, Lauren Bacall and other women ask viewers to "nag, kvetch, bitch" and "put your lips together" to obtain more information about the Obama and McCain health care plans. According to the ads, treatment of chronic diseases accounts for 75% of U.S. health care spending. They add, "vote like your health depends on it" (Mundy, "Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 10/28).

Elizabeth Edwards Criticizes Both Candidates
Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), on Monday at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., criticized both the Obama and McCain health care proposals, the Post reports (Connolly, Washington Post, 10/29). She said, "I'm not fond of Sen. Obama's plan. ... I'm really not fond of Sen. McCain's plan" (Foote, The Hill, 10/28).

During the event -- sponsored by the Center for American Progress, where Elizabeth Edwards serves as a senior fellow -- she discussed her experiences with breast cancer and her concerns about a potential McCain administration (Connolly, Washington Post, 10/29). According to Elizabeth Edwards, the McCain proposal would make every U.S. resident a "tax loser," "knock the doctor out of the (decision-making) process" and leave many residents with pre-existing medical conditions without health insurance (The Hill, 10/28). She added that Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is "not particularly well informed" about health care.

Elizabeth Edwards also said that the Obama proposal would not expand health insurance to all U.S. residents (Connolly, Washington Post, 10/29). She said, "Everybody has to be covered. That's what 'universal' means -- everyone is covered" (The Hill, 10/28).

Editorial
McCain and Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Alaska Sarah Palin's branding of Obama's tax plan as "socialism" is "such a stretch that it's hard to know where to start in debunking it," a Orlando Sentinel editorial states. The editorial highlights McCain's accusation that Obama advocates for a government takeover of the health care system and notes that "Obama's plan takes a similar approach to the one adopted in Massachusetts under former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney," who "[s]omehow... escaped the socialist label." The editorial concludes, "There's no question there are fundamental differences between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain on economic policy. Misleading labels are a poor substitute for an honest discussion of them" (Orlando Sentinel, 10/29).

Opinion Pieces

• Dave Wilson, Kansas City Star: "Our increased longevity and vitality are tremendous accomplishments," but "increased longevity, combined with the aging of the baby boomers, is straining our social structures, institutions and programs that serve older populations," AARP Kansas President Wilson writes in a Star opinion piece. "Fortunately, there is a singular opportunity for us to voice our opinions soon and do something about the two main issues that are affecting Americans (not just seniors): Finding quality, affordable health care and finding financial security in retirement," Wilson writes. He concludes, "As we approach Election Day, I encourage all of you to become informed voters and only vote for candidates you believe will ensure your peace of mind about health care and economic security" (Wilson, Kansas City Star, 10/28).
  
  
• Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Washington Times: If "Congress is going to pass meaningful, comprehensive health care legislation, both sides will need to set partisanship aside and work together on a solution" and "work cooperatively with the next President to find and build upon areas of agreement ... on reaching solutions for the American people, not scoring political points," Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member Enzi writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. Enzi notes that all of the reforms he writes about are included in a bill (S 1783), called "10 Steps to Transform Health Care in America," that he introduced in July. Enzi concludes, "I am hopeful that in the next year we can move from talking about problems with our health care system to solving problem by working across party lines on 10 Steps and other reasonable plans to provide comprehensive health care reform" (Enzi, Washington Times, 10/29).
  
  
• Robert Moffit, Washington Times: Both Obama and McCain have "ponied up ambitious plans" to deal with the "huge problem" of the uninsured and their "approaches are expensive and expansive," but that is "where the similarities end," Moffit, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. He writes that Obama's health care plan would "centralize power in Washington" where federal officials increasingly would "hold the purse strings and make the decisions on health care delivery. " In addition, Obama's approach "adds millions to the public health rolls by skimming millions from private plans," according to Moffit. Moffit writes that Obama "would take us on the path to a government-controlled system," while McCain's approach would "decentralize control over health care financing and decision making, empowering individuals and families" (Moffit, Washington Times, 10/29).

Broadcast Coverage

• CBS' "Evening News" on Tuesday included a comparison of the Obama and McCain proposals for Medicare reform (Cordes, "Evening News," CBS, 10/28).
  
  
• CNN's "Newsroom" on Tuesday focused on health care during a "Ten issues in 10 days" segment (Levs, "Newsroom," CNN, 10/28). A transcript is available online.
  
  
• CNN's "Situation Room" on Tuesday reported on the Obama response to the comments from Holtz-Eakin (Yellin, "Situation Room," CNN, 10/28). A transcript is available online.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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