It’s on McCain’s website. People would be charged a tax for the cost to their employer of providing health insurance. You would them qualify for a tax credit of $5000 to offset the tax. This would completely cover the cost of a employer paid plan up to @0K for people in the 25% bracket. Basically, it would offset the tax. Most people would come out ahead, a small number would pay more in taxes than the credit would offset. If your cost was below 5K, you get to pocket the rest. That is the Reader’s Digest Condensed version. This is from memory. Others may have a different take on it or be able to be more specific.
You’ve got it right, and getting beyond the close employer/tax-exempt health plan coupling, which of course was created by government meddling, is a key step in making market forces work.