FYI, this is the same McCain adviser who said that McCain invented the BlackBerry. Funny, the female McCain advisers only get one mistake and they're gone. From AP:
Barack Obama's presidential campaign claimed Tuesday that comments by a top adviser to John McCain reinforced Obama's contention that millions would be worse off if they lose employer-sponsored health coverage and end up buying it themselves.
McCain wants to change the current income tax treatment of health insurance, treating payments toward health insurance as taxable wages. In exchange, individuals would get a $2,500 tax credit and families would get a $5,000 credit when buying health coverage.
Some health analysts say the Republican's plan would erode employer-based health insurance coverage by encouraging younger, healthier workers to shop around and find a better deal directly from an insurer in the individual market. And, if those workers dropped employer coverage, some companies would eliminate coverage entirely because of the costs associated with insuring older or less healthy employees.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a domestic policy adviser for McCain, attempted to assure that such a scenario would not occur, but gave Obama an opening.
"Why would they leave?" Holtz-Eakin said in a story published by CNNMoney.com "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."
Obama's campaign quickly seized on the comment. In remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday in Harrisonburg, Va., Obama described Holtz-Eakin's comments as a "stunning bit of straight talk, an October surprise from his top economic adviser."
"(Holtz-Eakin) said that the health insurance people currently get from their employer is and I quote 'way better' than the health care they would get if John McCain becomes president," Obama said. "Now this is the point I've been making since Sen. McCain unveiled his plan. It took until the last seven days of this election for his campaign to finally admit the truth. But hey, better late than never."
