He writes:

McCain’s health plan has a problem of its own. It is not too radical but too timid. A refundable tax credit of $5,000 per family — in addition to increased cash wages from employers no longer burdened with paying for health care — would help middle-class workers get insurance. But for people on the lower end of the scale — who don’t qualify for Medicaid — the $5,000 credit alone would not be enough to buy adequate coverage, which can cost more than double that amount.

Gerson ignores the effect of the plan on take-home wages. Workers wouldn’t have to rely on “the $5,000 credit alone.” He adds,

To be a genuine alternative, Republicans should follow their own logic and make the ownership of private health insurance an entitlement. Fund the purchase of a basic health insurance plan completely, through a refundable tax credit, so every low-income American can afford insurance.

I find this passage highly opaque. Is he merely saying that the credit ought to be made larger? If that’s all he means, he should just say so. He’s usually not at a loss for words.