McCain is not lying about Obama's health care plan

McCain has claimed that Obama's health care plan would "force families into a government-run health care system."

A NYT article that repeatedly accuses McCain of lying concludes with: "Jonathan B. Oberlander, who teaches health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that Mr. Obama’s plan would not force families into a government-run system. 'I would say [McCain's claim] is an inaccurate and false characterization of the Obama plan,' he said. “I don’t use those words lightly.'"

But Obama's website has the following information about his health plan: "The Obama plan will create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals who wish to purchase a private insurance plan...The Exchange will require that all the plans offered are at least as generous as the new public plan and have the same standards for quality and efficiency."

So, Obama would create a government health insurance plan then tell private insurers that their health care plan must be "at least as generous " as the government plan, meaning that if the government's plan offers a provision all private plans must offer this provision as well. This really does mean that Obama's plan would force everyone into a government-run system.