Most people do not realize that the health insurance issue is largely a tax issue.

As an employer I get a tax deduction for buying health insurance for my employees. Yet if an individual buys his own health insurance, he gets no tax deduction. This probably originated in the days when tax rates were so high that paid benefits were a great tax avoidance policy.

By either eliminating the tax deduction for businesses or transferring the deduction to individuals it would encourage individuals to own their own policies and make their own decisions. It would also encourage wiser consumption and lower health care costs.

Health Savings Accounts or HSAs are a great step in this direction. It allows participants to choose bigger deductables and put pretax dollars in an account that they can spend on health care as they choose.

It would also eliminate the lobbying for coverage that medical groups like psychologists, chiropracters, and other specialists try to mandate that ‘group’ providers carry. Such mandates remove individual choice and raise insurance costs.

Individual should make their own choices just as they do with their car insurance. The result of the tax benefit and the control by a third party is that we are overinsured; we file claims for small costs instead of saving insurance for large claims. Imagine what your car insurance would cost if you filed a claim for oil changes, tune ups and new tires.

McCain proposes to shift the tax advantage and the choice to the individuals. The unions and Obama oppose this logical and effective measure. On this issue McCain is clearly the candidate offering change you can believe in.

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