OBAMA VS. McCAIN: THE FIGHT FOR HEALTH CARE
// October 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // Hott Look@Politics
battle not over, long war ahead
I’ll definitely be hooting and hollering when Barack takes over as president. I think it’s very important for everyone to have health care, especially our seniors.
Roanoke, VA. — BARACK OBAMA accused JOHN Mc CAIN of wanting to cut $882 billion from Medicare on Friday, and claims that would mean seniors pay more for drugs, receive fewer services and get lower quality care.
Obama sought to undercut McCain’s support among older voters, warning that McCain wants to cut Medicare to pay for other plans.
McCain, whose aides said Obama was distorting facts to scare seniors, called Obama’s tax plans “welfare” and argued that policies the Democrat is promoting as middle-class are more akin to socialism.
Obama delivered his message while campaigning in conservative southwest Virginia, but he intended for it to be heard in other battleground states, including retiree haven Florida, where McCain was making two appearances.
“When you’ve worked hard your whole life, and paid into the system, and done everything right, you shouldn’t have the carpet pulled out from under you when you least expect it and can least afford it,” Obama told a crowd of more than 8,000 gathered at the civic center in Roanoke, a Democrat-friendly city of 91,000 in a largely Republican part of the state.
Obama cited a figure of $882 billion in Medicare cuts over a decade, drawn in part from a study by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. He said that McCain was considering “drastic” cuts in Medicare equivalent to a 20 percent or more cut in benefits next year.
“It would mean fewer places to get care, and less freedom to choose your own doctors,” Obama said. “You’ll pay more for your drugs. You’ll receive fewer services. You’ll get lower quality care. I don’t think that’s right. In fact, it ain’t right.”
McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said that Obama’s criticism was false and “an attempt to simply scare American seniors.” He said the kind of Medicare cost cuts the Republican nominee wants to make are in areas such as curbing fraud and unnecessary subsidies, slowing the growth of premiums, and expanding generic drugs and chronic disease management. “No service is being reduced,” Holtz-Eakin said.
Obama didn’t mention McCain’s mitigating promise of a $5,000-per-family health-care tax credit, but he criticized McCain’s proposal to tax employer-provided health-care benefits.
Obama also sought to answer Republicans’ suggestions that his own plans to expand health care would limit people’s insurance options.
“If you’ve got health insurance, the only thing that will change out of my plan is we will lower your premiums,” he said. Those who aren’t insured now would have access to the type of coverage federal employees and members of Congress get, he said.
