The Foundry

Sen. John McCain issued a call to action on health care reform today. Despite what some political pundits and liberal critics in the media claim, McCain has it exactly right with his policy proposal.

The McCain plan would expand personal, portable private health insurance, not through government mandates or regulations handed down by Washington but by harnessing patient choice and private competition.

McCain would establish an alternative beyond employer-based coverage by making it easier for individuals and families to own and keep their health insurance policies without a tax or regulatory penalty and would enable them to purchase coverage across state lines to create a real national market. These features are largely absent from the health care sector today

McCain also sees a powerful role for the states in health care reform. Under his plan, states would continue to regulate health insurance but would have new flexibility. Through his Guaranteed Access Plan, states would benefit from federal assistance and best practice models for insuring the otherwise “uninsureables,” but will ultimately have the ability to continue to experiment with ways of ensuring access to health coverage for high-cost patients.

Heritage has published recent research on patient-centered health care and approaches to covering high-cost patients.