When people get their health insurance from work, they are beholden to their employer. How many people do you know who stay at a crappy job, or go out and get a crappy job, for the health benefits? And what if you lose your job? Under McCain's plan, people would receive tax incentives to purchase their own insurance. This would allow us to change jobs as we please without worrying about coverage.
In addition, you can probably find a plan that fits you better than your employer can. At my last job, I liked the plan we had, but I know that several of my co-workers were unhappy with it. Also, my employer was paying more for my insurance than I would have had to pay for my own plan. These problems would be eliminated if we had been empowered to purchase our own coverage.
McCain is also right that we should be able to shop across state lines, just like we do for car insurance (maybe Geico could get into the business). That way, people could escape ridiculous coverage requirements (maternity or mental health, whether you want it or not) that we find in states like Massachusetts and California.
In short, giving people more influence and control over their health insurance will lead to better coverage and lower costs. If you agree, vote for McCain.
I missed the debate, but yeah I agree that system makes a lot more sense! My last job, the coverage I was offered through the company was ridiculously expensive and didn't offer much coverage. I was able to get my own, since the company was so small, and that saved us and the company quite a bit of money! However, now that we have tricare, I won't complain about getting coverage through work, since we couldn't get a better deal monetarily if we tried.
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