McCain: 'Doing Nothing' on Reform Isn't the Answer

Maybe there is room for compromise on health reform.

Sen. John McCain told a town-hall meeting yesterday that a government health plan being pushed by Democrats won't fix the system but said "doing nothing is not the answer either."

Playing to a relatively well-behaved crowd in Phoenix, McCain made his points clear: A public insurance plan to compete with the private sector is a bad idea, but something has to be done to fix the health care system. The Arizona Republican and former GOP presidential candidate repeated his campaign mantra from last year, saying not acting on health care would be irresponsible.

"So let's go back with constructive, free-market incentives to improve the quality of health care and the affordability and availability," CNN.com quoted him as saying.

White House officials earlier this month suggested President Obama would support a reform package without a government-controlled insurance plan only to flip-flop on the issue later.

Despite his presidential campaigning and recent comments, McCain's voting record doesn't show a strong interest in reforming the system.

But then again, the self-described maverick hasn't toed the GOP line either. His own proposal when he ran for president was to create a market for individual insurance plans. McCain wanted to treat employer-sponsored insurance plans as taxable income and offset that partly by offering tax credits to people who went out and bought insurance on the open market. The plan never resonated with voters, and Obama used it against his opponent. Now there's a topic for a town-hall meeting.