Worlds apart on healthcare

September 21, 2008

ON FEW ISSUES do Barack Obama and John McCain diverge as dramatically as they do on healthcare. Both say they want to reduce costs and expand coverage to the 47 million uninsured. But while Obama wants to build on the existing employer-based system with new coverage plans for families and businesses, McCain aims to move the country away from work-based insurance and toward a system in which all Americans cut their own deals with private insurers.

If the national campaign ever gets past lipstick and the collapse of investment banks, these differences on healthcare may get the attention they deserve.