FACTBOX: McCain, Obama on health care and retirement

(Reuters) - Health care has ranked among the top issues with U.S. voters in this presidential election cycle, and the Social Security retirement program is a perennial issue for the country's influential elderly population.

Both Barack Obama, who has claimed the Democratic nomination, and John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, have offered health care and retirement proposals. Here is a summary of their positions.

HEALTH CARE

McCain would end tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance and instead provide a refundable tax credit of $2,500 per person, or $5,000 for families, to help people buy health policies. He would promote competition by allowing people to buy insurance across state lines and he would make it tougher to sue doctors in some cases.

Obama has proposed a national insurance program to allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees, funded by a tax on employers who don't provide coverage. Individuals would not lose coverage when they switch jobs.

He would lower premiums through a program that would reduce the exposure of employer health plans to costs of a catastrophic illness. Drug costs would be lowered by allowing patients to buy drugs from abroad and letting the government negotiate for lower prices.

SOCIAL SECURITY

McCain has said he would work with Congress to rein in the growing costs of retirement programs and has suggested changing the way benefits are indexed to inflation. He has also supported creating private retirement accounts for younger workers.

Obama opposes private retirement accounts. Affluent workers would pay more in taxes to ensure that Social Security is fully funded.

Obama wants to automatically enroll workers in retirement plans to boost savings, though employees could opt out if they choose.

(Compiled by Andy Sullivan, Donna Smith and JoAnne Allen; editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)