healthcare

=Barack Obama's Plan:=


 * Would create a national health insurance program for individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who do not qualify for other existing federal programs
 * Allows individuals to choose between the new public insurance program or from among private insurance plans that meet certain coverage standards
 * Requires employers who do not provide health coverage for employees to pay into the national health insurance program
 * Does not mandate individual coverage for all Americans, but requires coverage for all children
 * Allows individuals below age 25 to be covered through their parents' plans
 * Cost estimated between $50 billion and $65 billion, to be paid for by eliminating Bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000

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** =Hillary Clinton=


 * Mandates individual health insurance coverage for all Americans
 * Offers federal subsidies for those who cannot afford it
 * Allows individuals to choose to keep their current coverage, or to choose from among several private plans also offered to members of Congress, as well as a new public insurance plan modeled after Medicare
 * Requires insurance companies to offer coverage to anyone who applies, and bars insurance companies from charging higher premiums to those with pre-existing conditions
 * Requires large businesses to provide or help pay for employee coverage
 * Expands Medicaid and federal children's health care programs Offers tax credits to limit health care premiums to a certain percentage a family's income
 * Cost estimated at $110 billion annually, to be paid for by eliminating the Bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000, as well as by reducing waste and inefficiencies in the current system.
 * Also limits the amount employers can exclude from taxes for health care benefits for those making over $250,000

media type="youtube" key="_UFQ-O_muOc&feature=related" width="425" height="350" =John McCain=


 * Opposes federally mandated universal coverage
 * Would increase awareness and promote the use of existing children's health insurance programs while expanding community health centers
 * Supports health care tax dividends for low-income Americans, medical malpractice reform, and improving electronic record-keeping.
 * He also supports expanding health savings accounts and encouraging small businesses to band together to negotiate lower rates with health care providers

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