Barack Obama would create a national health insurance program for some Americans.

Barack Obama's health care plan is very different from John McCain's plan. Obama's plan would create something called a National Health Insurance Exchange. Many people work at jobs that don't offer health insurance. They make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but still can't afford the high cost of health insurance themselves. Obama's national health insurance program would be for those people, and it would be paid for with government money, which comes out of everyone's taxes. This program would also automatically cover any children whose parents don't have insurance. Do you think this program would be a good use of taxpayer money? Obama's plan would also use taxpayer money to cover a portion of the so-called "catastrophic" health care costs that employers pay for their employees. "Catastrophic" means very damaging, and in this case it refers to the high cost of insurance for people who are very sick. Obama says that if a company's health care premiums get too high, the government would pay for part of the cost. Obama's plan would offer tax breaks for small businesses to help those businesses afford health insurance for their employees. Obama also says his plan will reduce wasteful spending in the health care system, which would save money. In all, Obama says he would reduce the average family's health care costs each year by $2,500 and make health insurance available to anyone who wants it but can't afford it now.

One way that Obama says he would pay for his plan is by getting rid of a tax cut President Bush gave to people making more than $250,000 a year. Another way Obama would help pay for his health care program is by taxing companies that don't provide health care for their employees. Do you agree or disagree with Barack Obama's health care plan? Which of the presidential candidates do you think offers the best solution to the health care crisis?

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