Associated Press Examines Effect of Financial Crisis on Prospects for Candidates’ Health Plans

Neither Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) nor Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has "signaled any intention to scale back his plans" on health care despite the recent economic downturn, but "with the federal government sinking ever deeper into debt and a $700 billion financial rescue package being implemented, many question just how much either presidential candidate can hope to deliver," the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. According to the AP/Chronicle, the presidential candidates "insist their health care plans would not add to the national debt, but independent analyses suggest otherwise."

Uwe Reinhardt, an economics professor at Princeton University, said, "Do we have the money to be our brothers' and sisters' keeper? The answer is no," adding, "We have to worry about Goldman Sachs. That's where we are." Robert Laszewski, a health care policy consultant, said that broad health care reform legislation has "zero" chance of passage amid the economic downturn and that the presidential candidates "owe us more of an explanation than they gave us at the debates" about how they plan to implement their proposals.

Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said regardless of economic conditions, the next president will have to phase in any changes he seeks, rather than implement sweeping reforms. Altman said, "Coming up with the money to pay for health reform and expanding coverage was always a huge mountain to climb," adding, "It just got much higher."

However, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said that the committee next year will consider broad health care reform legislation despite the economic downturn. He said, "While some suggest that the current economic situation might thwart efforts to overhaul America's health care system, I believe the state of the U.S. economy makes the need for health care reform even more urgent."

Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) agreed, although he said that he will focus on proposals to reduce health care costs. He said, "I know that taking care of the uninsured is really an issue by itself, but you make that job easier to the extent you get health care cost under control" (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 10/14).

Final Debate Unlikely To Include Details
Obama and McCain on Wednesday will meet at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., for the final presidential debate, but "few experts expect much new insight" on their health care and other proposals, McClatchy/Seattle Times reports. According to McClatchy/Times, not "only does the format discourage talk about details, but also on the stump, on their Web sites and in their ads, the campaigns have shown little desire to get too precise" about their proposals.

For example, neither Obama nor McCain has announced a comprehensive proposal to address the long-term financial problems of entitlement programs. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said that the Obama and McCain campaigns "are about making the country feel comfortable," adding that "Social Security and Medicare are the poster children for failing to address a problem."

In addition, the problem "extends to how to best manage the nation's health care system," as "experts find the specifics sketchy at best," McClatchy/Times reports. During the last debate, when asked whether health care "should be treated as a commodity," Obama "gave a lengthy answer" without much explanation and "then criticized McCain's ideas," and McCain promoted his proposal for refundable tax credits, according to McClatchy/Times. John Geer, editor of the Journal of Politics, said, "Both candidates went into their standard stump speeches," adding, "The woman wanted a sense of where they stood on health care. Bill Clinton would have been hugging her and making her understand his program, but both Obama and McCain missed their chance" (Lightman, McClatchy/Seattle Times, 10/14).

Biden Criticizes McCain Proposal
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.) on Monday during a campaign event in Rochester, N.H., "blasted" McCain on health care, the Manchester Union Leader reports. According to Biden, the refundable tax credits that McCain has proposed would not cover the cost of health insurance for U.S. residents who lose their employer-sponsored coverage and must purchase coverage on the individual market.

He said, "Where I come from, we call that the ultimate bridge to nowhere" (Namuo, Manchester Union Leader, 10/13).

Examination of Health Care Proposals
Several newspapers recently examined the Obama and McCain health care proposals. Summaries appear below.

• BusinessWeek: BusinessWeek on Monday examined the different philosophies of the presidential candidates on proposals to expand health insurance to more U.S. residents (Arnst, BusinessWeek, 10/13).
  
  
• CQ HealthBeat: CQ HealthBeat on Tuesday examined whether the McCain health care proposal would increase taxes and how McCain plans to fund his plan (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 10/14).
  
  
• Newsweek: Newsweek on Tuesday examined the accuracy of statements that the presidential candidates have made about the health care proposals of their opponent (Robertson, Newsweek, 10/14).