Which Candidate Says They Will Reduce the Uninsured Number?

According to the Commonwealth Fund, a health care research foundation, it's Democratic Senator Barack Obama who wins the "Who Covers More?" contest. The report found that Obama's plan would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by a whopping 34 million in 10 years, reported Reuters. That's quite a projection, but it demolished the report's estimate of Republican Senator John McCain's proposal. McCain's plan, according the Commonwealth Fund report, covers only a measly 2 million.

President of the Commonwealth fund, Karen Davis, states, "[Obama has a] plan that tries to deal in a serious way with the uninsured," said president of the Commonwealth Fund, Karen Davis. "He doesn't eliminate it, but in my view he cuts it in half over a 10-year period." Something that the report from Reuters does not tell us is that this plan will be pretty expensive. Senator Obama is confident that he will be able to pay for his proposals, which includes the health insurance plan, but we will have to wait and see.

On the other end of the aisle, an opinion piece by Merrill Matthews in the Wall Street Journal touts Republican nominee John McCain for one of his health insurance proposals - buying health plans across state lines. Matthews points out that many Americans already have coverage across state lines, citing that his daughter goes to college out of state, but still is covered at home. He also argues that many employer-sponsored plans also already offer coverage to policyholders in other states.

A prime example is US Senate members not living in Washington D.C and being covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. This includes Obama and McCain. Merrill Matthews is an executive director for the Council of Affordable Health Insurance, he has written this piece. He also points out that health insurance consumer s will have more options by being offered plans across state lines.

Matthews does not present the issue of health insurance companies wanting to move to a state that has more lax restrictions on who can be turned down, and less regulation on mandated benefits. This is bad news for people with health conditions. With all of this being sad, it is still unsure which candidate has the better handle on health care and insurance reform.