To the editor:

I listen to John McCain promote his health care plan and I’m sickened by the math. McCain has said repeatedly that “every American will receive a $5,000 refundable tax credit.” Not true. McCain’s $5K proposal is for a family, not an individual. My family health insurance costs $12,000 annually. Buying that myself under McCain’s plan, I’d be $7,000 short. Maybe if I had seven houses, I’d have $7,000. Like most Americans, I have neither.

Even if I had $7,000, I’d have to pay $12,000 up front. The $5K tax credit comes a year later, presumably to pay the following year’s premium. Thus, in the first year my benefit under McCain’s plan is ZERO. If I can’t afford $12,000 up front, I would never have insurance. No insurance means no tax credit. Thus, under McCain’s plan, the insurance benefit for those who really need it is ZERO.

An individual with employer-paid health benefits would get a $2,500 tax credit, sent to the insurance company, applied towards next year’s premiums. But the employer pays those premiums. So while the employer benefits, the employee’s benefit is again ZERO. It gets worse. McCain’s plan taxes employer-paid benefits. A single person insurance policy costs about $4,000 per year. In my 15 percent tax bracket, that amounts to $600 in additional income tax.

McCain’s individual health care plan does nothing but raise my taxes $600. McCain is either not very smart or not very honest. Either way, he’s not fit to lead.

David Reber,
Lawrence