Health Care: Next President's Top Job? - WebMD

Health insurance for everyone should be the top health care priority for the next president, according to recommendations issued Thursday by a group of the nation's top health policy experts.

The experts are calling on the next president to push for coverage of all the 47 million Americans who now lack it. They should also move to overhaul how doctors, hospitals, and patients handle medical treatment in the $2 trillion-per-year health system, the group says.

If that sounds like a huge job, it is. Most observers believe that "universal" health coverage will take many years to achieve and will cost tens of billions of dollars. Some candidates have said they want to try to lower health care costs first before directly tackling the numbers of uninsured....