McCain assailed over health plan

Democrat Barack Obama sharply criticized Republican John McCain’s health care proposals Saturday, saying they could force millions of Americans to struggle to buy medical insurance.

Turning to an issue that has faded somewhat during the economic crisis, Mr. Obama gave an unusually detailed outline of his own plans in a 40-minute speech to thousands of sun-soaked Virginians at a waterside park in Newport News.

He would make coverage more affordable to most Americans, he said, paying for the subsidies largely by canceling the Bush administration’s tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year.

In a sign that the presidential campaign’s final month may have a nasty tone, Mr. Obama called Mr. McCain’s health plan “radical,” and Republican officials accused Mr. Obama of lying.

And in Colorado, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin accused Mr. Obama of “palling around with terrorists.”

Wearing a dark suit and speaking from a teleprompter, Mr. Obama told the Virginia crowd he would reduce health insurance premiums for most people by “as much as $2,500 per family.”

He would save money in the heath care system, he said, by holding drug and insurance companies “accountable for the prices they charge and the harm they cause.” He also said he would outlaw “insurance company discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.” Medicare would be allowed to negotiate with drug makers for cheaper prices, he said, and his administration would place greater emphasis on preventing illnesses.

He devoted at least half his speech to criticizing Mr. McCain, who has proposed to tax the health benefits that 156 million people get through the workplace as income. In exchange, Mr. McCain would give tax credits to help pay for insurance - $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.

Mr. Obama called the McCain plan “so radical, so out of touch with what you’re facing, and so out of line with our basic values.”

Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant responded: “Barack Obama is lying about John McCain’s plan to provide more Americans with more health care choices. Obama’s plan only offers more government, while McCain’s plan offers more choices.”

Mrs. Palin campaigned Saturday in Englewood, Colo., and brought up a New York Times story Saturday about Mr. Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the Weather Underground, which committed several bomb attacks during the Vietnam war era in the name of overthrowing the U.S. government.

“Our opponent … is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country,” she told a group of donors at a private airport. “This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America.”

Mrs. Palin, Alaska’s governor, said that donors on a greeting line had encouraged her and Mr. McCain to get tougher on Mr. Obama. She said an aide then advised her, “Sarah, the gloves are off, the heels are on, go get to them.”

Mr. Obama served with Mr. Ayers on the board of a community-organizing charity, the Woods Fund. He also was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school-reform group Mr. Ayers founded. Mr. Ayers also held a meet-the-candidate event for Mr. Obama at his home - both men live in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood - when Mr. Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s.

The Obama campaign called Mrs. Palin’s remarks offensive but unsurprising.

Story Continues →