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| Expanding Access to Healthcare |
OBAMA: Require all children to have health insurance. Create
a new public plan, and expand Medicaid and SCHIP. Create the
National Health Insurance Exchange through which small businesses
and individuals without access to other public programs or
employer-based coverage could enroll in the new public plan or in
approved private plans.
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McCAIN: Remove the favorable tax treatment of employersponsored
insurance and provide a tax credit to all individuals
and families to increase incentives for the purchase of insurance;
promote insurance competition and individual choice of insurance
by allowing individuals and families to purchase insurance
across state lines.
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| Employer Mandated Requirements to Offer Healthcare |
OBAMA: Will mandate employers to offer "meaningful" coverage
or contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the public
plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this mandate. Obama's
proposal does not specify what would define a "small business."
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McCAIN: None. Opposes mandates for coverage.
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| Premium Assistance / Tax Changes for the Purchase of Health Insurance |
OBAMA: Small businesses would be eligible for a refundable tax
credit of up to 50 percent of premiums paid on behalf of their employees
if an employer pays a "meaningful share" of the cost of "a
quality health plan." Obama's plan does not specify what would be
considered "small" "meaningful" or "quality." Obama would make
federal income-related subsidies available to help individuals buy
the new public plan or other qualified private insurance plans.
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McCAIN: Reform the tax code to eliminate the exclusion of the
value of health insurance plans offered by employers from workers'
taxable income. McCain would provide a refundable tax credit of
up to $2,500 (individuals) and $5,000 (families) to all individuals
and families for the purchase of insurance.
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| Pooling |
OBAMA: Create a National Health Insurance Exchange through
which individuals could purchase the new public plan or qualified
private insurance plans. Participating insurers would be required to
offer coverage on a guaranteed issue basis, charge a fair and stable
premium that is not based on health status and meet standards
for quality and efficiency.
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McCAIN: Will work with states to create a federally supported
Guaranteed Access Plan to ensure patients who have been denied
will have access to health coverage. One approach would establish
a nonprofit corporation that would contract with insurers to cover
patients who have been denied health insurance and could join with
other state plans to enlarge pools and lower overhead costs.
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| Financing |
OBAMA: Obama's campaign estimates cost to be between $50
billion to $65 billion a year when fully phased in. Expects much of
the financing to come from savings within the healthcare system.
Additional revenue to come from discontinuing tax cuts for those
with incomes over $250,000.
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McCAIN: Not yet specified, although he indicates that cost
containment measures would make insurance more affordable.
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| View a Full Side-By-Side Comparison of the Candidates |
The following are the issues NFIB has identified as being the most relevant to our
members and the small-business community as a whole:
