Boston Globe - Kennedy to propose universal health care
In a speech to health care advocates today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts plans to propose legislation to provide health insurance to all Americans at a federal price tag of $100 billion a year.
The plan would mandate that large employers cover their workers and would establish a national insurance plan for other Americans modeled on the plan that covers federal employees. Although similar initiatives have been proposed before, Kennedy's plan would attempt to make the mandate more palatable to employers by capping their contributions at 12 percent of payroll costs, up slightly from the current median expenses of 11 percent.
Considering that we will be paying over a $100 in interest on the National Debt for the first quarter of 2004, this sounds like it would be a hell of a good deal at twice the price.
