McCain's Health Insurance Tax Credit

Obama likes to scare people by saying that McCain will replace their $12,000 family insurance plan with a $5,000 tax credit, leaving them $7,000 in the hole. The problem with that argument is that the government does not provide $12,000 worth of subsidies for the $12,000 plan. In fact, since the government grants tax deductions for employer-provided health insurance, the most that you would possibly be saving in taxes would be 35% of $12,000, if you were in the highest tax bracket. In case you are wondering if that means that wealthier people get a bigger tax break than less wealthy people under the current setup, you are right. McCain, on the other hand, proposes giving everybody $5,000 to put towards purchasing health insurance, which is more assistance than they get now, and is not skewed towards the wealthy.