Giuliani's Health Care Plan

From MSNBC.com:

Giuliani offers health care plan

The Associated Press AP

ROCHESTER, N.H. - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday offered a consumer-oriented solution to the nation's health care woes that relies on giving individual tax credits to purchase private insurance. Critical to Giuliani's plan is a $15,000 tax deduction for families to buy private health insurance, instead of getting insurance through employers. Any leftover funds could be rolled over year-to-year for medical expenses.

Campaigning in this first primary state, Giuliani said his goal is to give individuals more control over their health care. The former New York mayor said as more people buy plans, insurers will drop their prices, making insurance affordable to those who lack it now. "Government cannot take care of you. You've got to take care of yourself," he said. "As more of us do that, the cheaper it will become and the higher in quality it becomes." ...

Giuliani used his appearance to continue criticizing the Democratic candidates, contending that their plans amount to socialized medicine. "We've got to solve our health care problem with American principles, not the principles of socialism," he said. "I know Democrats will say this is unfair, I know they'll squeal... But I'm a realist. I face reality, which is: if you take more people and have government cover it, it's called socialized medicine."

He argued that Edwards' plan would cost twice what the Democratic candidate estimated. ....