The bipartisan Citizen's Health Care Working Group, led by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) studied the problems facing the US healthcare system for three years. Now, in an interim report, the group is recommending some form of universal coverage as the solution to the country's healthcare woes. That approach is opposed by administration officials. The report sets the stage for a series of congressional hearings later this year.
"It implies massive new funding sources, massive new laws would be needed," said Health Care America's Sarah Berk, a pro-market advocacy group. "We want universal access, but this report just pushes all the difficult problems onto somebody else's plate. It says government needs to do it all."
- see this article from the Seattle Post Intelligencer
PLUS: Former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson argues that state Medicaid programs should be upgraded to emphasize preventive healthcare. Release