Well, of course!
Options being floated have include taxing the health care benefits of workers like income and/or laying much of the cost on employers. A federal sales tax and other proposals have been mentioned but seem to be off the table.
The program that is forming in Congress seems sound enough given the current economic restraints — it isn't overly ambitious. It would create a health care plan, probably operated by the government like Medicare, which would allow people and employees of small companies to enroll. It would compete with private insurers.
There also is a proposal to make the program a non-profit cooperative for individuals and companies with fewer than 10 employees. This would be similar to agricultural or other cooperatives and not be operated by the government.
Whatever the final form, the goal should be to provide at least basic coverage for everyone, with private insurance available to provide more elaborate or specialized coverages. We are already paying a tremendous price, both in monetary terms and in terms of the health of our citizens, because we allow nearly 50 million Americans to go without health coverage — and
Much more regulation of the for-profit medical and pharmaceutical industries also is imperative, with an aim toward controlling the outrageous costs and high administrative and promotional expenses that drive up the overall price tag for our current spotty system.
Ultimately, when it comes to funding, there really is only one place to look for the money needed from government sources — the bloated $762 billion Defense budget. Any rookie accountant could look at that package for 10 minutes and come up with $50 billion in unnecessary Defense spending to cut. The problem has always been in finding politicians with a nerve to vote for them.
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