The senator said he did not have an estimate of how many uninsured people would be able to buy health insurance coverage because of the tax credit.
Sen. McCain said he does not support outlawing the “cherry-picking” that some health plans do to make certain they insure mostly healthy people. Outlawing cherry-picking “would be mandating what the free enterprise system does and that would be obviously something that I would not approve of.”
Instead, he favored broadening the high-risk pools that states use to provide coverage for some of their uninsured residents.
“I would rather go that route than mandate that health insurance companies under any condition would have to accept a certain level of patients. … One reason is that we have seen in the past that [insurance companies] have a great ability to game the system.”
Sen. McCain also said he hoped the tax credit plan would encourage more people to open health savings accounts (HSAs).
“I think they are a good idea,” he said. But he does not think that health savings accounts have received as much attention as they should get.
“Rightly or wrongly, HSAs are viewed by most Americans as something for rich people. But if you can only use that refundable tax credit for purchasing health insurance or HSAs, I think you may see a stimulus in that; at least, I believe that's a strong possibility.”
On another front, the senator said in an interview that he favors reforms to the malpractice system.
“I would like to see that any medical provider or doctor who stayed within medical guidelines would then not be sued. Right now, it's a lottery for trial lawyers.”
He is in favor of damage caps, “but more importantly, I've opposed punitive damages. … Punitive damages are something that I have not supported in anything.”
Sen. McCain also noted that although he is against abortion, “after a lot of agonizing thought and consultation, I believe in stem cell research. I think stem cell research holds great promise in addressing some of these terrible afflictions that face our nation and the world, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.”
A large portion of the 47 million Americans who are without health insurance choose not to sign up. SEN. MCCAIN
Editor's Note
This look at the health care proposals of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is the first in an occasional series highlighting the health policy views of those seeking to be our next president. Each article is based on a 1-hour health policy forum with an individual candidate held at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, and sponsored by Families USA and the Federation of American Hospitals.