Adwatch: Obama's ad on health care needs clarification

by Megan Baldino (mbaldino@wsbt.com)

Tools

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.

Multimedia

Watch The Video

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.

Next article Goshen says resolution will keep people safe and off the roadways

More Good Stuff

WSBT Weather

Current Temp 27.4

More Weather

WSBT Weather

More Weather

On Demand

iPhone
Get the WSBT News and Irish Sports Report apps for your iPhone! Read more »
On DVD
Order a DVD of a WSBT news story! Read more »
Twitter
Follow us on Twitter! Read more »
Facebook
Connect with us on Facebook! Read more »
WSBT E-News
Daily StormTracker e-mails right to your Inbox! Read more »
Video On Demand
Miss a story on WSBT News? Watch it here! Read more »
CBS Shows
Watch CBS shows and news online, free! Read more »
WSBT Alert
Breaking News & Weather right to your cell phone! Read more »
Mobile
WSBT News on the go for your cell phone or PDA. Read more »
RSS Feeds
Get news and updates as soon as they're published. Read more »

Stock Quotes

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.