John McCain

www.JohnMcCain.com

The bolded Divided We Fail principle is listed first, then the statement we identified for the candidate. In some cases, we may not have identified a statement for the corresponding principle.

We believe all Americans should have access to affordable health care, including prescription drugs, and these costs should not burden future generations.

• …We can and must provide access to health care for all our citizens…
• Allow individuals to get insurance through any organization or association that they choose: employers, individual purchases, churches, professional association, and so forth. These policies will be available to small businesses and the self-employed, will be portable across all jobs, and will automatically bridge the time between retirement and Medicare eligibility.
• Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines…
• Reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance, and provide all individuals with a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to increase incentives for insurance coverage. Individuals owning innovative multi-year policies that cost less than the full credit can deposit remainder in expanded health savings accounts.

(Campaign website, October 12, 2007) http://www.johnmccain.com/Info...27cf.htm

We believe wellness and prevention efforts, including changes in personal behavior such as diet and exercise, should be top national priorities.

"Childhood obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are all on the rise. We must again teach our children about health, nutrition and exercise - vital life information. Public health initiatives must be undertaken with all our citizens to stem the growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes, and to deter smoking."
(Campaign website, October 11, 2007) http://www.johnmccain.com/Inf...7cf.htm

"Insurance companies should have incentives not only for them, but also for the people they insure for incentives to wellness and fitness, and they should be concrete, even in the form of cash payments for people, including payments even to health club fees…" (AARP Republican Candidate Forum, Sioux City, Iowa, October 25, 2007)

We believe Americans should have choices when it comes to long-term care - allowing them to maintain their independence at home or in their communities with expanded and affordable financing options.

"I think we all recognize that long-term care is one of the most expensive parts of the health care equation. We are going to have to provide opportunity and access to long-term care policies that people can both afford and give them the dignity that they deserve. Some of that may have to do with tax credits that will be extended for those who need it. I think it is of interest that in my state of Arizona, due to our kind of access program, we have fewer people that are in long-term care facilities than in other states, because there are incentives for people who practice wellness, fitness and have home care provided by health care providers." (AARP-NH event with Senator McCain, October 13, 2007)

We believe our children and grandchildren should have an adequate quality of life when they retire. Social Security must be strengthened without burdening future generations.

"I believe that we may meet our obligations to the retirees of today and the future without raising taxes, and I have long supported supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts - but not as a substitute for addressing benefit promises that cannot be kept. People of good faith in both parties agree that we must make the hard decisions to restore solvency to these programs. As President, I will work on a bi-partisan basis to make the hard choices to save Social Security and Medicare, protect the retirement security of our workers, and protect the American economy. I will listen to any serious reform proposal people have but believe we can achieve reform and modernization without higher taxes."
(The New York Daily News Candidate Challenge - John McCain, July 2, 2007) http://www.nydailynews.com/...john-1.html

We believe workers should be provided with financial incentives to save, should have access to effective retirement plans, and should be able to keep working and contributing to society regardless of age.

"To boost savings and retirement security, obviously, health savings accounts are important, 401k's are important, reform of the entire tax code. One of the most compelling issues outside of health care itself, but is directly connected to it, is the complexity and incredible Byzantine tax code that we have adopted over the years… If we would have a simpler, fairer tax code, and one that provides incentives for wellness and fitness, one that, frankly, one of the areas that would need to be fixed is our medical malpractice situation where doctors then don't practice defensive medicine, where we have incentives for savings across the board…" (AARP Republican Candidate Forum, Sioux City, Iowa, October 25, 2007)

We believe Americans of all ages should have access to tools to help manage their finances, and save for the future and better, easy to understand information to help them increase their financial literacy and manage their money wisely.

Divided We Fail has done extensive research of the candidate's website, speeches and campaign literature without finding any statements on this particular issue by John McCain.

Republicans Mike Huckabee John McCain Ron Paul Mitt Romney

Democrats Hillary Clinton Barack Obama