r health status" (Arnst).
By comparison, John McCain's health care plan also stresses the availability of health care to all but proposes a plan based on "competition rather than government intervention," in which "the states take a far greater role in fostering that competition and in forming risk pools that would insure coverage for the sickest citizens" (Arnst). McCain's plan has been termed "the least radical," as he proposes universal coverage via tax credits and "a more competitive insurance marketplace" instead of through mandates (Arnst). His plan also shifts tax breaks from employers to individuals, doing away with the employer-provided insurance exemption and replacing it with a $2,500 annual tax credit for individuals and a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can purchase their own coverage (Arnst). The plan is intended to remove the $12,000 per employee burden of providing insurance from companies while allowing consumers to shop for a plan that meets their needs best (Arnst). Rather than giving control over health care to the government, McCain wants to give it to the patients (Arnst). Since the sickest Americans would be hard-pressed to buy affordable coverage in an open market, McCain wants states to form risk pools termed "Guaranteed Access Plans" to cover those Americans (Arnst).
...