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