DaytonDailyNews.com

Key points: Candidates' health care plans

Republican

John McCain

• Designed to reduce insurance costs by increasing consumer choice, competition among insurers, payment reforms to Medicare, and improved prevention and disease management approaches.

• Taxes employer contributed health premiums, then uses that revenue to send tax credits — $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families — to offset the cost of insurance. The government would send a check directly to the insurance provider of the consumer's choice.

• Those obtaining insurance that costs less than the credit can deposit the remainder in expanded Health Savings Accounts.

• Families could purchase health insurance across state lines and take insurance with them from job to job or job to home if workers need time off.

• Expands Health Savings Accounts.

• Work with states to establish a Guaranteed Access Plan, or GAP, for those with prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions. One approach would establish a nonprofit that would contract with insurers to cover patients who have been denied insurance and could join with other state plans to enlarge pools and lower overhead costs.

• Cheaper drugs. Push for safe re-importation of drugs and faster introduction of generic drugs.

• Tort reform: Work to pass medical liability reform that eliminates lawsuits directed at doctors who follow clinical guidelines and adhere to safety protocols.

• Medicaid and Medicare reform: Programs should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement.

• Emphasizes preventive care, electronic recordkeeping, more research and better management of chronic disease, greater access to care through walk-in clinics in retail outlets.

Visit www.johnmccain.com

Democrat Barack Obama

• Retains private insurance system but injects additional money to pay for expanding coverage.

• Creates a National Health Insurance Exchange to monitor insurance companies in offering coverage. Any American will have the opportunity to enroll in a new public plan similar to one covering members of Congress or purchase an approved private plan.

• Income-based sliding scale subsidies for people and families who need it.

• Expands eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP, the state-federal health insurance programs for the poor and disabled.

• Mandatory coverage of children. Young people up to age 25 can continue coverage through their parents' plans.

• Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.

• Portability and choice. Participants in the new public plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange will be able to move from job to job without changing or jeopardizing their health care coverage.

• Employer contribution. All but the smallest employers that do not offer coverage will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan.

• Flexibility for state plans. States can continue to experiment, provided they meet the minimum standards of the national plan.

• Boosts spending on technology and electronic recordkeeping, emphasizes preventive care and creates a reinsurance pool for catastrophic illnesses.

Visit www.barackobama.com