Both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain agree that Americans are spending too much money on medical treatment and are promising to expand healthcare coverage to the 47 million uninsured. But they have very different strategies to address this issue. Voters are confused and they don’t know which plan is better for them.

While the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain’s health care plan would put an end to tax breaks for health insurances provided by employers and come up with a refundable tax credit of $2,500/person or $5,000/family, the Democrat Obama plans to create a government-operated insurance program which would require larger employers to provide coverage for their workers in an attempt to reduce the number of people without health insurance. People won’t lose their insurance coverage when they switch jobs because their insurance would be portable.

Democrat Obama’s plan would cover 34 million of the nation’s projected 67 million uninsured people in 10 years, compared with just 2 million covered under Republican John McCain’s plan, according to a report released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund.

A survey conducted September 17-21, 2001, by telephone among a national cross section of 935 registered voters in the United States found that more voters (33%) think Senator Barack Obama’s plan would be better for them than Senator John McCain’s plan (27%).

Obama would implement a national insurance program through which people and small businesses would be able to purchase health care just as federal employees. He plans to modernize the current system of employer- and government-provided health care, and to make some investments that will lead to a more efficient medical system. He plans to invest more in preventive services, like regular screenings and healthy lifestyle information. Those who are uninsured tend to believe Obama’s plan would be more likely to provide them with coverage.

The tax Policy Center estimates McCain’s plan to create a refundable tax credit would cost $1.3 trillion but it won’t do much to reduce the number of uninsured because the tax credits wouldn’t be enough to buy even the barest coverage. McCains plan also includes the proposed set up of a nonprofit Guaranteed Access Plan which is to provide coverage to individuals who don’t have employer-sponsored insurance and they aren’t eligible for existing government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid due to pre-existing conditions. McCain would also ease state insurance restrictions and allow people to buy policies across state lines.

While Obama’s plan is more likely to have an impact on the number of people covered by health insurance, as it will increase the number of insured people, McCain’s plan would likely have little impact on the number of uninsured Americans, a study led by Harvard School of Public Health professor Katherine Swartz concluded.

Over a period of 10 years, McCain’s plan would cost $1.3 trillion, but it won’t do much to reduce the number of uninsured, and Obama’s would cost $1.6 trillion and it would add an estimated 34 million people to the insurance poll, according to a report released by the tax center.