McCain to Unveil Health Care Plan

WASHINGTON -- John McCain wants to give people more control over their health care _ and more options _ while injecting more competition into the system in hopes of lowering costs and improving services.

The Republican presidential candidate will propose a series of changes to the health care system in a speech Thursday, offering a broad overhaul plan that contrasts sharply with those his Democratic rivals have offered.

Democrats, to varying degrees, would require individuals and workers to be covered, but McCain includes no such government mandate in his proposal. Rather, he focuses on expanding access for individuals and families.

"We are approaching a 'perfect storm' of problems that if not addressed by the next president, will cause our health care system to implode," the Arizona senator says in remarks prepared for delivery Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, and made available to The Associated Press.

"Democratic presidential candidates are not telling you these truths. They offer their usual default position: if the government would only pay for insurance everything would be fine. They promise universal coverage, whatever its cost, and the massive tax increases, mandates and government regulation that it imposes," McCain said. "I offer a genuinely conservative vision for health care reform, which preserves the most essential value of American lives _ freedom."

Aides acknowledged the plan would take time to implement because of its scope, while billing it as a vision for changes he would work toward if elected.

They provided no estimated price tag. To help pay for it, they said McCain would end a provision in the tax code that let employers deduct the cost of health care from their taxable earnings. Additionally, they said, passing tort reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits and excessive damage awards would help reduce costs.

Broadly, McCain calls for an updated system that he says will be more responsive to consumers' needs than it is to the wants of government, insurance companies, lawyers, doctors and hospitals.

"While we reform the system and maintain quality, we can and must provide access to health care for all our citizens," he says. "Controlling health care costs will take fundamental change; nothing short of a complete reform of the culture of our health system and the way we pay for it will suffice."

Among the major proposals:

_Allowing people to buy health insurance nationwide instead of limiting them to in-state companies. McCain says this will provide more options and force insurers to compete for business, thus decreasing costs and increasing the quality of care.

_Permitting people to buy insurance through any organization or association they choose as well as through their employers or buying direct from an insurance company. He says such plans would follow people as they change jobs, and would automatically cover the time between retirement and Medicare eligibility.

_Providing tax credits of $2,500 to individuals and $5,000 to families as an incentive to buy health coverage. People with multiyear policies that cost less than the amount of the tax credit to deposit the difference into an expanded health savings account. He also wants to eliminate what he says is a bias in the tax code toward employer-sponsored health insurance.

_Allowing veterans to use whatever provider they want, wherever they want by giving them an electronic health care card or through another method. He says they should not have to wait for access at a faraway Veterans Affairs facility.

_Supporting different methods of delivering care, including walk-in clinics in retail outlets across the country.

_Developing routes for cheaper generic versions of drugs to enter the U.S. market, including allowing for safe reimportation of drugs.

_Revamping Medicare payment systems to pay providers for diagnosis, prevention, and care coordination without paying them for preventable medical errors or mismanagement.