LACONIA, N.H., July 31 (UPI) -- Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani said he favors a U.S. health-insurance system based on an incentive of tax breaks and vouchers.

If elected president, Giuliani said he would move the United States from an employer- and government-based healthcare system to a consumer-based system in which people would have more control over their coverage, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Increasing the incentive for people to buy their own insurance would create greater competition, cut insurance costs and improve the quality of care, Giuliani said during an interview in New Hampshire.

Giuliani said he would introduce a tax deduction of up to $15,000 per family to buy insurance policies. With such an incentive, the number of Americans buying coverage would rise from 17 million to at least 30 million, the Journal reported.

Giuliani said he has yet to produce cost estimates but added, "I don't think the plan would cost a great deal."

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