title: Essential health care: affordable for all?
abstract: Access to affordable health care has become a national crisis. The uninsured have many faces and many reasons for being uninsured. The nation cannot afford to sustain this broken system; not in terms of resources, nor in terms of the deteriorating health of the public. Universal coverage could offer a promising opportunity to begin to ameliorate the unsustainable use of expensive illness care now substituting for effective low-cost prevention and early detection. A proposal for essential health care coverage, a balance between cost and choice to maximize use of beneficial care, is presented.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Mary O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Mundinger
authors.forename: Edwidge
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smolowitz
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Honig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003669:Deductibles and Coinsurance / Q000191:economics; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000191:economics; D006285:Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D015271:Insurance Pools / Q000458:organization & administration; D037141:Mandatory Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009310:National Health Insurance, United States / Q000191:economics*; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000191:economics; D017149:Private Sector / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States; D019472:Universal Health Insurance / Q000458:organization & administration*