FACTBOX: Quotes from McCain, Obama health policy advisers

(Reuters) - Health policy advisers to Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama commented on the state of the U.S. health care system and the candidates' proposals in interviews with Reuters. Following are quotes from the two advisers.

McCain health adviser, Project HOPE economist Gail Wilensky

SYSTEM NEEDS HELP

"Our health care system is in great need of health and help. We have unsustainable health care spending, patient safety and clinical appropriateness problems, and -- the part that people mostly focus on -- 47 million people without insurance coverage."

BIG CHUNK OF THE ECONOMY

"People tend to focus on how much we spend -- the amount per person, or the 16 percent of the Gross Domestic Product that we spend on health care. But that's not the really killer issue for the economy and the country. The real problem has to do with the growth rate -- what the economists call the 'excess spend,' the 2 1/2 percentage points growth rate in health care faster than the economy, which has been going on for the last 45 years."

EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HEALTH CARE

"It's not really so much letting the market take care of it. It's letting individuals be able to choose the kind of health care plans that meet their health care needs. ... I can't imagine most large employers not continuing to offer health insurance plans for the foreseeable future. Ten or 20 years down the road, who knows?"

Obama health adviser, Harvard University economist David Cutler

DYSFUNCTIONAL SYSTEM

"It (the U.S. health care system) is really bad and getting worse. It is dysfunctional and falling apart. What do you need to fix the most? You basically need three things. One, is you need to cover everybody. Second, you need to improve the value of what you're getting for what you spend. And third you need to have a public health system that actually works."

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER

"Health care reform has to be something that engages the vast bulk of the American people, and it has to be something that engages Democrats, independents and Republicans, because that's how we make successful big social policies in the U.S. We did welfare reform because all the groups agreed that it was the right thing to do. And we do deficit reduction things on occasion because everyone agrees it was the right thing to do."

SAVING MONEY

"Overall, what we're proposing is going to save corporate America a lot of money and individuals a lot of money. So we believe very strongly that with the combination of things that we've put forward, we can save 8 percent of medical spending. ... We believe that we can save 8 percent of medical spending. ... Eight percent of $2-1/2 trillion is a lot of money, about $200 billion a year."