Obama on Health Care (from candidate's Web site)
Video (A) Campaign
Video (B) Meeting with Orlando Sun-Sentinel

Guaranteed health care for anyone who needs it
I'll end the outrage of one in five African Americans going without the health care they deserve. We'll guarantee health care for anyone who needs it, make it affordable for anyone who wants it, and ensure that the quality of your health care does not depend on the color of your skin. And we're not going to do it 20 years from now or 10 years from now, we're going to do it by the end of my first term as President.
Source: McCain-Obama speeches at 99th NAACP Convention Jul 12, 2008

The problem with health care is about affordability
The problem is not that folks are trying to avoid getting health care; the problem is they can't afford it. My plan emphasizes lowering costs, not only setting up a government plan so that people who don't have health insurance can buy into it and will get subsidized, but also making sure that those who have health insurance but are struggling with rising co-payments, deductibles, premiums. Under Bush, families are paying 78% more on health care than they were previously. We put in a catastrophic re-insurance plan that will help reduce those premiums for families by an average of about $2,500 per year. Every expert that's looked at this has said there is not a single person out there who's going to want health care who will not get it under my plan. My plan also says children will be able to stay on the parents' plan up until the age of 25. Both Edwards and Hillary have a hardship exemption, where, if people can't afford to buy health care, you exempt them, so that you don't count them.
Source: 2008 Congressional Black Caucus Democratic debate Jan 21, 2008

Subsidies to people who can't afford care -- not single payer
If, in fact, we are not making healthcare affordable enough, which is what's happening right now, and you mandate on families to buy health insurance that they can't afford and if they don't buy it you fine them or in some other way take money for them. What is happening in Massachusetts right now, which is that folks are having to pay fines and they don't have health care. They'd rather go ahead and take the fine because they can't afford the coverage. My core belief is that people desperately want coverage, and my plan provides those same subsidies. If they are provided those subsidies and they have good, quality care that's available, then they will purchase it. That is my belief. I never said that we should try to go ahead and get single payer. What I said was that if I were starting from scratch, if we didn't have a system in which employers had typically provided health care, I would probably go with a single-payer system.
Source: 2008 Congressional Black Caucus Democratic debate Jan 21, 2008

Reforms in prevention and drug price negotiation save money
I emphasize how important prevention & cost savings can be in the Medicare system. Many of the reforms in my healthcare plan will reduce costs not just for the overall system, but also for Medicare. We're not going to make some of these changes unless we change how business is done in Washington. The reason we can't negotiate prescription drugs under the Medicare prescription drug plan is because the drug companies specifically sought and obtained a provision in the Bill that prevented us from doing it.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate Dec 13, 2007

Tackle insurance companies on reimbursement system
We need to deal with the insurance companies. On Medicare and Medicaid, the reimbursement system is not working the way it should. Instituting a universal health-care system that emphasizes prevention will free up dollars that potentially then can go to reimbursing doctors a little bit more.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University Oct 30, 2007

Take on insurance companies; drive down health care costs
My emphasis is on driving down the costs, taking on the insurance companies, making sure that they are limited in the ability to extract profits and deny coverage, and the drug companies have to do what's right by their patients instead of simply hoarding their profits. We've got very conservative, credible estimates that say we can save families that do have health insurance about a thousand dollars a year, and we provide coverage for everybody else. We provide mandatory health care for children
Source: 2007 Dem. debate at Saint Anselm College Jun 3, 2007

Address minority health needs by more coverage & targeting
Q: Currently there are major disparities in both access to insurance and health care for racial and minorities. How will your plan address this issue?
A: One of the biggest reasons that there are disparities is that African-Americans & Latino Americans are much more likely not to have health insurance. And so if we set up a system in which everybody's got health insurance, some of those disparities are immediately going to be reduced. Folks who are working but don't have health care benefits- those groups are disproportionately minority. [Covering them via their employer] would be the first step. There are some particular issues within the minority community that I think we can address in a targeted way. Lead paint may seem like an ancillary issue except for the fact that incidence of lead poisoning among African-American & Latino youths is sky high. It has huge ramifications in terms of their long-term health. Obesity and diabetes in minority communities is more severe.
Source: SEIU Democratic Health Care Forum in Las Vegas Mar 24, 2007

Barack Obabma's Health Care Voting Record

• No need to mandate coverage; just let people afford it. (Jul 2007)
• Voted NO on means-testing to determine Medicare Part D premium. (Mar 2008)
• Voted YES on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Apr 2007)
• Voted YES on expanding enrollment period for Medicare Part D. (Feb 2006)
• Voted YES on increasing Medicaid rebate for producing generics. (Nov 2005)
• Voted YES on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug. (Mar 2005)
• Voted YES to increase funding for AIDS treatment & prevention. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on more funding for Rx benefits, community health, CHIPs. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES to improve services for people with autism & their families. (Apr 2007)
• Voted YES to preserve access to Medicaid & SCHIP during economic downturn. (Apr 2008)

McCain on Health Care (from candidate's Web site)
Video: John McCain on Health Care
Video: Interview with Charlie Rose (8/27/2007)

Harness market competition for comprehensive reform
Comprehensive Health Care Reform: John McCain believes health care reform should address the rising costs that threaten families' budgets, business competitiveness, and government programs by making the entire system responsive to the needs of American families. Families should receive quality, accountable care at lower costs by harnessing market competition.
Source: Campaign plan: "Bold Solutions for Economic Prosperity" Feb 3, 2008

Preserve quality of health care by individual responsibility
Q: What would you do to curb the high cost of medical health care & to help those who don't have health insurance?
A: The real question is: How are we going to keep health care costs down, because we have the highest quality of health care in the world in America today? And unlike the Democrats, I'm going to preserve that quality of health care, and at the same time stop the inflation & the skyrocketing costs of health care. And there's a couple of principles:

• To make the recipient of the health insurance much more responsible in health-care costs.
• To address wellness & fitness.
• To give every American family a $5,000 refundable tax credit so they can go anyplace in America to acquire the health insurance policy that best suits their needs.
• And, if they've got money left over, then invest it in a health savings account.

Ronald Reagan said nobody ever washed a rental car. And that's true in health insurance. If they're responsible for it, then they will take more care of it.
Source: 2007 Republican primary debate on Univision Dec 9, 2007

Give individuals $2,500 refundable tax credits for health care
Q: Your plan for lowering health care costs involves switching people from employer-provided health care to policies they buy on their own. There's concern that could lead insurance companies to cherry-pick their clients. You also want to limit the amount doctors can charge for chronic diseases, which skeptics worry could make it difficult for people with diabetes, for example, to find doctors to take care of them. How would you deal with these two problems?
A: Last year, the Medicaid inflation was 10%. No program in the world can survive under that. So of course we want to remove the employer tax, and tax incentives, and move it to the individual. Give the individual a $2,500 refundable tax credit, a family a $5,000 tax credit. If you need to have people in special categories such as congenital diseases, we may have to set up a fund to care for those. But the key is, make health care in America affordable and available. Don't destroy it, as the Democrats want to do.
Source: 2007 GOP primary debate in Orlando, Florida Oct 21, 2007

Control health costs so manufacturers stay competitive
Q: Pres. Bush said that GM & Ford need to produce a product that's relevant rather than looking to Washington for help. Do you agree?
A: I agree with that, but I think we in Washington have an absolute requirement to bring health care costs down. The differential between Toyota and General Motors [due to health care costs affects each cars' cost by] $1,700. It's our responsibility to stop the cost aspects of health care, which is endangering the profitability and the competitiveness of our Detroit workers. So of course they have to do it on their own. But it is our job to create a climate where we have both a safe and secure Social Security system but also health care costs under control so that they can be competitive with foreign products. By the way, there are automobile manufacturers moving in the southern part of this country, as you know, that are doing very well because American workers are the most productive in the world.
Source: 2007 Republican debate in Dearborn, Michigan Oct 9, 2007

No mandated universal system; no mandated insurance coverage
McCain says he thinks affordable health care can be made available to all Americans without a mandated universal system. McCain said that he doesn't think government-run systems such as those in Canada and in Europe will succeed in the US. "I think it's a warmed-over proposal that we rejected back in the early 1990s and I'm certainly not interested in raising people's taxes," McCain said, adding he also is opposed to requiring everyone to buy health insurance coverage. "We've got to make health care affordable and available. There's plenty of ways to do that."
He said he's been working on a plan "for a long time" but "it's a very tough issue." One way, he said, would be to expand community health centers and the S-CHIP program, offer tax incentives for poor people, put health care online, medical malpractice reform and promote health savings accounts. However, he said, one problem getting everyone covered "is there's a lot of healthy Americans that say I just don't want health insurance.
Source: United Press International, "McCain sees room" Jun 10, 2006

Include a health savings account in health care reform
There's a choice of having outcome-based treatment. If someone has diabetes, we should give the health care provider a certain amount of money and say, "Care for that patient. If at the end of that period that patient is well, we'll give you a reward." We need walk-in clinics, community health care, and incentives for home health care. In Arizona, we adopted a proposal which incentivizes health care providers to keep people in home health care settings--dramatically less expensive than long-term care.
Source: 2008 Facebook/WMUR-NH Republican primary debate Jan 5, 2006

Supports tax-free medical savings accounts & tax credits
McCain supports the following principles regarding healthcare:
A Patient's Bill of Rights, including appeal mechanisms when claims are denied, & the right to sue when claims are denied.
Expanded eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts
In favor of limits on the amount of punitive damages awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Expanded prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
Tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage.
Source: National Political Awareness Test (NPAT) Nov 7, 2004

John McCain's Health Care Voting Record

• Allow appealing HMO decisions externally & in court. (Jul 1999)
• Voted NO on expanding enrollment period for Medicare Part D. (Feb 2006)
• Voted YES on increasing Medicaid rebate for producing generics. (Nov 2005)
• Voted YES on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug. (Mar 2005)
• Voted NO on $40 billion per year for limited Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Jun 2003)
• Voted YES on allowing reimportation of Rx drugs from Canada. (Jul 2002)
• Voted YES on allowing patients to sue HMOs & collect punitive damages. (Jun 2001)
• Voted YES on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Apr 2001)
• Voted NO on including prescription drugs under Medicare. (Jun 2000)
• Voted YES on limiting self-employment health deduction. (Jul 1999)
• Voted YES on increasing tobacco restrictions. (Jun 1998)
• Voted NO on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
• Voted NO on blocking medical savings acounts. (Apr 1996)
• Voted YES on tax credits for those without employee health insurance. (May 2002)
• Voted YES on tax deduction for long-term care insurance. (May 2002)
• Voted YES in support telemedicine for underserved areas. (May 2002)
• Voted YES on $350 billion for prescriptions for poor seniors. (May 2002)
• Rated 25% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)