From commentary in the Times on an analysis of various health-care positions of the several candidates:

"McCain's postion is ironically ludicrious.

(1) Due to his injuries in Vietnam, he has been entitled to care through the VA ever since.

The VA is government-run healthcare.

(2) As a US Senator, he recieves government-paid health insurance and care.

(3) As someone over 65, he is elgible for Medicare and should be enrolled in Parts A and B at least under Medicare's rule.

Medicare is government-administered health insurance.

(4) Given Senator McCain's history of health problems. if he went to purchase a non-group health insurance plan, he would be unable to do so in around 45-46 states. Those states allow insurers to reject applicants because of pre-existing conditions, age and a host of other reasons.

He has had government-run care, government-paid insurance and/or government-adminstered insurance with little or nothing in the way of deductibles or caopys basically his entire adult life. But he is enough of a hypocrite to announce that the rest of us should fend for ourselves against the sharks of the private health insurance market.

His hypocrisy on the subject leaves one a bit queasy. ..."


A