2008 first presidential debate, at Ole Miss: on Health Care

Barack Obama: Health tax credit is bad idea; it will cost taxpayers more

OBAMA: I make sure that we have a health care system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage. McCain talked about providing a $5,000 health credit. Now, what he doesn’t tell you is that he intends to, for the first time in history, tax health benefits. So you may end up getting a $5,000 tax credit. Here’s the only problem: Your employer now has to pay taxes on the health care that you’re getting from your employer, and if you end up losing your health care from your employer, you’ve got to go out on the open market and try to buy it. It is not a good deal for the American people.

Barack Obama: $15B subsidies to private insurers was a lobbyist giveaway

Barack Obama: FactCheck: McCain’s plan taxes employees, not employers

Obama said, “You may end up getting a $5,000 tax credit. Here’s the only problem: Your employer now has to pay taxes on the health care that you’re getting from your employer. McCain’s plan doesn’t call for taxing employers on health care benefits; it would instead tax employees. As the law stands now, employees don’t pay taxes on the dollar value of their health insurance benefits. Under McCain’s plan, they would.

McCain also misrepresented Obama’s plan when he said that his opponent favored “handing the health care system over to the federal government.” McCain made a similar claim in his acceptance speech, when he said that Obama’s plans would “force families into a government run health care system.” We called it false then and we stand by that. Obama’s plan mandates coverage for children, but not for adults, and it does not require anyone to be covered by a nationalized system.

John McCain: $5,000 refundable tax credit for every family

OBAMA: I make sure that we have a health care system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage. McCain talked about providing a $5,000 health credit. Now, what he doesn’t tell you is that he intends to, for the first time in history, tax health benefits. So you may end up getting a $5,000 tax credit. Here’s the only problem: Your employer now has to pay taxes on the health care that you’re getting from your employer, and if you end up losing your health care from your employer, you’ve got to go out on the open market and try to buy it. It is not a good deal for the American people.

John McCain: Family should make health decisions, not federal government

McCAIN: I want to make sure that we’re not handing the health care system over to the federal government which is basically what would ultimately happen with Obama’s health care plan. I want the families to make the decisions between themselves and their doctors, not the federal government.

John McCain: FactCheck: Obama’s plan is voluntary for adults

Obama said, “Your employer now has to pay taxes on the health care that you’re getting from your employer.” McCain’s plan doesn’t call for taxing employers on health care benefits; it would instead tax employees. Employees don’t pay taxes on their health insurance benefits. Under McCain’s plan, they would.

McCain also misrepresented Obama’s plan when he said that his opponent favored “handing the health care system over to the federal government.“ McCain made a similar claim in his acceptance speech, when he said that Obama’s plans would ”force families into a government run health care system.“ We called it false then and we stand by that. Obama’s plan mandates coverag for children, but not for adults, and it does not require anyone to be covered by a nationalized system. Obama’s plan expands the insurance coverage offered by the government, but allows people to keep their own plans or choose from private plans as well