Adwatch: Obama's ad on health care needs clarification

by Megan Baldino (mbaldino@wsbt.com)

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Sen. Barack Obama's campaign ad titled

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign ad titled "Unravel" targets Sen. John McCain's health care plan; but the ad needs clarification. (WSBT photo)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Oct 28, 2008 at 12:48 PM EST

Story Updated: Oct 28, 2008 at 4:34 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — In one of his more recent ads, Sen. Barack Obama attacks Sen. John McCain's health care plan. The ad is titled "Unravel," and it needs some clarification.

In the ad the announcer says "McCain would tax health benefits for the first time ever meaning higher income taxes for millions."

But that statement needs some clarification.

According to McCain's website, his health plan taxes the value of employer-provided health benefits, but also offers employees a tax credit.

That last detail about the tax credit was left out of Obama’s commercial.

Also, under McCain’s plan, employees would pay federal income taxes on the value of their benefits, but the tax credit would offset those taxes, and companies would not be taxed.

Another problem with the ad is that it states McCain's plan would "raise costs for employers offering health care," and that your coverage could be reduced or even dropped completely.

Actually, there are no added costs for employers who offer health benefits. But in some cases, for instance, if a small company is insuring older, less healthy employees, clearly the costs could go up.

For more information on campaign ads, go to FactCheck.org.

For more election headlines and voter resources, go to WSBT.com's Campaign ‘08 section.

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