By AP/KWMU
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. – President Bush says his new proposals for health insurance will help more people afford coverage.
The president was in Lee's Summit Thursday for a discussion of the proposal he made Tuesday in his State of the Union address. He wants to tax employer-provided health insurance and provide tax deductions for health insurance.
During a private roundtable discussion, Bush said people should not be penalized by insurance costs just because of where they work.
Critics, however, say the plan will raise taxes for some people and encourage companies to drop employee insurance coverage. Bush said that such concerns were just politics.
Bush met at St. Luke's Health System's Lee's Summit hospital with a group of small business owners and employees to discuss how his plan would effect them.