With less than a month to go before Election Day, one criticalpocketbook issue that could put Sen. Barack Obama into the WhiteHouse is Sen. John McCains reckless health insurance reformproposal.

At a time when people are terrified about their financialwell-being–with stocks tanking on Wall Street, and banks andbusinesses failing on Main Street–the last thing anyone with a jobwants to worry about is losing their health coverage.

Yet that is exactly the fear Sen. McCain is injecting into thiscampaign with his call to tax employer-paid health insurancepremiums, while sending folks off with a totally inadequate taxcredit to shop for individual coverage on their own.

Under current law, group health insurance premiums are notcounted as taxable income for employees, but it would be under theMcCain plan–a key point not mentioned anywhere in the healthcaresection of the candidate's Web page, but sure to be harped on byObama over the next four weeks.

The Republican candidate says he would offset that loss byoffering a 2,500 tax credit for individuals and $5,000 for familiesbuying insurance on their own. But as too few are aware, decenthealth insurance costs at least twice, even three times as much asthat credit–and thats just for the premium. Deductibles andco-payments are also likely to be far higher once you step outsidethe group umbrella.

And if you have a pre-existing condition, good luck findingcoverage at any price. Indeed, Sen. McCains history of melanomasmakes him virtually uninsurable in the individual market, unlessany recurrence of his prior illness is excluded.

Sen. McCains Web page says his plan would compensate for such gaps in partby encouraging formation of public high-risk pools and HealthSavings Accounts. Yet I question the commitment of Republicans togovernment coverage, given their hostility toward Medicare andMedicaid, and wonder how many middle-class families have anydisposable income to squirrel away in their own rainy dayfunds.

Sen. Obamas plan is not nearly as ambitious as were those of hisrivals for the Democratic nomination–Sen. Hillary Clinton and JohnEdwards. He provides no guarantee of universal coveragejust apromise of universal access.

He would set up a National Health Insurance Exchange offering arange of private insurance options, as well as a new public planbased on benefits available to members of Congress, the Obamacampaign Web sitenotes.

His plan would also prohibit rejection over preexistingconditions, offer premium subsidies to those below a certain incomelevel, and provide a tax credit to help small businesses affordcoverage.

A high-level catastrophic illness fund would also be created tocap the limits private plans would have to offer for the relativefew with such health claims, which should lower premiums forstandard plans.

These steps would in part be financed by a health insurancesurcharge against large firms that do not offer coverage toemployees. The playing field would be leveled further by providinga tax credit for individuals forced to buy coverage on their own,although the size of the credit isnt specified on the Obamacampaign Web page.

Fervent free-marketers are sure to object to any governmentintervention, and any plan to tax firms not providing healthinsurance will spark knee-jerk opposition as well. But the factthat 47 million lack health insurance, while even those withcoverage are hard put to afford health care, makes the status quounacceptable.

Yet the changes pushed by Sen. McCain will not only fail tosolve the problem, it will make matters worse. Good luck trying tosell that to middle-class voters.