McCain policy guru Holtz-Eakin does not dispute James Kvall’s math, but says that projecting that health care spending will continue to grow as fast as it has in recent years fails to take into account the measures that McCain proposes to rein in medical costs:
If the question is whether the tax credit is indexed to regular inflation, it is. And historically, medical spending has grown faster than inflation. But it is important to emphasize that the tax credit is not the entire reform; McCain has other proposals in insurance market reforms, payment reforms in Medicare, and preventive efforts all of which are designed to slow cost growth or even reduce it where possible.
You can see more specifics of how McCain plans to deal with health care costs here.
Also, if you missed it, that earlier post also now includes the latest reaction to the GHCD from Justin Fox.