According to Jay Khosla, health policy advisor to Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), there are elements to McCain's plan that Democrats could support.
McCain's plan would replace the existing tax preference for employer-based coverage with a refundable tax credit for the purchase of private insurance and allow people to buy health insurance across state lines.
In an October 16 interview with the Kaiser Family Foundation, Khosla said the elements of the McCain healthcare plan emphasize affordability, portability, security, access and quality.
In the end, he said, reform has to be inclusive and involve a bipartisan effort to address the problems from the top down.
According to Khosla, Democrats and Republicans both want Medicare payment reform that rewards doctors for quality of care rather than for the number of services they provide. A bigger role for generic drugs and healthcare IT is also a part of both party's platforms, he said.
Khosla said McCain hopes his healthcare vision is pragmatic enough to encourage bipartisan efforts going forward.
The McCain healthcare plan is budget-neutral over 10 years and has "very comprehensive" cost-containment measures, he added.
In the interview, Khosla said he hopes to clear up any misconceptions regarding the McCain proposal for providing tax credits. McCain's plan envisions building on the current employer-based system.
Nothing would change about the current way the employer-based system functions, Khosla said. Employers would still have every incentive to provide quality coverage, as they do now. The only change would be that employers would have to report the value of the healthcare coverage they provide on their employees' W-2 forms.
"People in lowest and middle tax brackets come out ahead," Khosla said.
"We have talked to a lot of health experts and economists, and our biggest concern is the rising cost of healthcare," he added. "We have to do everything possible to bring those costs under control."