“The ‘solution,’ my friends, isn’t a one-size-fits-all big-government takeover of healthcare,” McCain, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, said at a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa. “It resides where every important social advance has always resided — with the American people themselves, with well-informed American families, making practical decisions to address their imperatives for better health and more secure prosperity.”

McCain said that, during an election cycle in which healthcare plays a prominent role, the plans and promises of other candidates have resulted in a “bidding war.” He portrays his own ideas as a realistic fix to the problems the system currently faces.

“The biggest problem with the American healthcare system is that it costs too much, and the way inflationary pressures are actually built into it,” the senator said. “Businesses and families pay more and more every year to get what they often consider to be inadequate attention or poor care.”

McCain is advocating a healthcare system that puts patients and their needs first, and not those of the government, lawyers, insurance companies, doctors and hospitals. He added that anyone wanting to fix the problems must be willing to take on the lobbies of these powerful groups.

The senator wants to make health savings accounts, which are popular with Republicans, a staple of his plan.

“American families know quality when they see it, so their dollars should be in their hands,” he said.

To cut costs, McCain vowed to cut down on “frivolous lawsuits” that take money from the system. In addition, he promotes competition and promised to allow generic drugs to enter the marketplace more quickly to compete with brand-name drugs. McCain also touted chronic-disease management as a way to curb costs.