The headline reads:
"Institute of Medicine Wants Universal Care."
I wish the headline writer had written "universal health insurance," which is what the reporter said in the first paragraph of the AP story on page A8 of today's Albuquerque Journal.
Because, you see, universal insurance and universal care are not quite identical.
But no matter. It's a big story.
The Institute of Medicine, a part of the National
Academy of Sciences, urged the President and Congress to provide health insurance to every American by 2010.
We are "reaching the point where the system is unsustainable," said one of the report's authors, a Dr.Arthur Kellerman of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
The story notes that the Census Bureau said 43.6 million people lacked health insurance at some point in 2002, up from 39.8 million in 2000.
The doctors endorsed no specific proposal, admitted the project would be expensive and said progress will require a bipartisan effort.
In that connection, I was struck by this:
A survey for the American Hospital Association found a majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans (!), is willing to pay higher taxes for universal coverage.
What makes this a big story? Doctors are talking. Affluent, independent doctors. And they're saying that single-payer health insurance is the way to go.
I find that hopeful.
PS That exclamation point after "Republicans" is mine.