Health Care for All Without Breaking the Bank

We can all make a difference in our nation's health. Find out how!

More on:

• Barack Obama
• Hillary Clinton
• Election 2008
• John McCain

We Can All Improve America's Health

We know: You can't afford to get sick. Our latest survey is consistent with the last -- 91 percent of you said the cost of health care was one of the top problems facing America today. Yes, there are plenty of kinks in our paper-laden, bureaucratic health care system. And when you add the cost of torts, fraud, medical mistakes, the numbers skyrocket. We offered solutions in our April cover story, "Fixing Our Health Crisis." But let's face it -- some of the problem is our own fault. Few of us "shop" for health care like smart consumers. Millions suffer chronic diseases, many of which are preventable. And most of us think business or government should foot the bill. We need to share the responsibility for improving America's health, which, after all, should be the best in the world.

What Government Can Do

• Use the Romney plan as a model for a national health care initiative.



• Reform the medical malpractice laws by placing reasonable caps on pain and suffering.


Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama deserve credit for drafting malpractice reform legislation that helps doctors but doesn't leave injured patients hanging in the wind.

What Employers Can Do

• Devise benefit plans that focus on prevention. One great model: Pitney Bowes.
  
  Many companies face double-digit increases in health insurance costs every year. They often respond by cutting benefits and increasing co-pays and premiums. Pitney Bowes has a radical new philosophy: Get employees healthy first and the costs will manage themselves. Plus, you'll have a healthier, more productive work force. It's working: Their medical benefits costs are rising a manageable 7% a year.

• "I Can't Afford to Get Sick"
• Think your insurance has you covered? Just wait till you need it most.
• 
• Reader's Digest Health Care Poll
• Read our fascinating findings about the underinsured middle class
• 
• Insurance-Speak Translation
• 20 health care terms to know.
• 
• Secrets of Great Doctors
• An insider's guide to getting the best medical treatment.
• 
• Tips on Choosing Your Health Insurance Plan
• It pays to do your research before selecting a health plan.
• 
• View the complete America 2.0 poll results.
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The military leaves nothing to chance, as shown by a Department of Defense manual that includes the definition of what a first page is: "If the document has no front cover, the first page will be the front page. If it has a cover, the first page is defined as the first page you see when you open the cover. In some documents, the title page and the first page may be the same."

-- Eleuterio Evangelista

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