McCain launches healthcare ad
John McCain, in general election mode, unveiled a new TV ad in a key swing state on an issue on which Democrats believe they have the upper hand: healthcare.
"The problem with healthcare in America is not the quality of health care, it's the availability and the affordability. And that has to do with the dramatic increase in the cost of healthcare," McCain says directly to the camera in the 60-second spot that declares it will give "straight talk" on the issue.
"Let's give every American family a $5,000 refundable tax credit so that they can go out across state lines and get the insurance policy that suits them best," McCain continues. "I can characterize my approach on health care by choice and competition, affordability and availability. We need community health centers. We need walk-in clinics. We understand that emergency room care is the most expensive in America.
"There's many, many solutions to this problem," the presumptive Republican nominee concludes. "I think we can address them. The fundamental problem is not the quality of health care; it's the cost of health care. So health care must be made affordable and available."
The Arizona senator is airing the ad in Iowa, which appears to be a toss-up state in November. In 2004, President Bush defeated Senator John F. Kerry 50 percent to 49 percent, but in 2000, Vice President Al Gore beat Bush 49 percent to 48 percent.
McCain's approach on healthcare is significantly different and far less government oriented than Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who both pledge to get to universal coverage. Clinton would require individuals to obtain insurance and provide government subsidies to those who can't afford policies. Obama would focus more on making healthcare affordable, arguing that if it isn't, people would flout the mandate.
McCain, who is giving a series of healthcare speeches this week, is also hitting back against the Service Employees International Union, which supports Obama and is running an ad in Ohio saying that McCain's proposal wouldn't lower healthcare costs.
Here's another McCain healthcare article/ad. If you'd like, I can forward this one to Leary as well? LMK.
I think it is a sound plan and puts health plan and facility selection to each individual family. The Democrates are wanting to take these RIGHTS away and put the government in charge; which will only create more fixed rules and hierarchy of authority.
Give the indiviual a chance before taking away another "Right".
This does nothing to make health care accessible to people with preexisting conditions or for those with low incomes. A $5,000 tax credit is a drop in the bucket toward the cost of health insurance. Why is it that so many people that have health insurance and are healthy have no understanding of the problems in obtaining health insurance?
Republicans, like McCain, think that if a person gets health insurance, any health insurance, that suddenly all possible health care services are completely available to them. What a load of crap. He's either lying or, like most super wealthy elitists, has no idea what it's like out here in the real world. How about the woman in Los Angeles whose health insurance company cut her off in the middle of chemotherapy? McCain would feed us to the very health insurers who have ruined health care in the country.
None of the candidates offer a good enough solution to the health care crisis. INsurance companies should be done away with, period. The two main reasons health care is so expensive is because of the cost to insurance companies and corruption in the field. There is no transparancy, and the medical industry has become a corporate playing field - it is NOT about caring for health, it is about making the most money.
And I disagree wholeheartedly with McCain. The quality of traditional health care is terrible. It lacks empathy, humanity and treats people like numbers. Preventative health care is the only sustainable, financially reasonable way to go. THis idea encroaches on the corporations who partner with the corrupt system to make certain people stay sick. If people start getting healthy... they lose money.
People who are afraid of "big government" amaze me. What you are saying is that you want fewer people with more power to decide the fate for the entire nation? You want a smaller demographic represented, leaving out non-normative communities? You want to risk having the democracy become a dictatorship. More government actually means more accountability and fewer psyhos with too much power.
I suspect people rarely do research before touting rhetoric they grew up with.
Read. Think. Vote.
Antionette: I'd like to know how insurance companies allow you to make your own decisions?! I'd actually prefer my elected representatives to have more say than shareholders at Blue Cross or whichever company you give your money to.
Sorry, your argument falls flat on the facts.
This is why we need universal healthcare and remove the middle man (insurance companies and their shareholders). All insurance companies do is try to make as much money as possible off OUR health. How is that right?
The people in the goverment are way too incompetent for this one. They need to focus on reducing costs and fraud. Otherwise there is noway it will be more affordable.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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