n this book John Marty makes the case for a universal health care system that is medically beneficial, fiscally responsible, andmorally necessary.Senator Marty starts by spelling out principles we should expect our health care system to follow, then lays out a commonsense plan to meet those principles. The result is a proposal to cover all people for all of their medical needs, in an accountable, comprehensible, fair, and affordable manner.Marty cuts through and critiques layers of "reforms" - from the Nixon era to the Obama administration - that led to the current bureaucratic nightmare that causes Americans to pay almost twice as much as other advanced nations, with worse coverage and poor health outcomes. Our health care system is so dysfunctional, one business executive quipped, "If you tried to design a health care system that doesn't work, you couldn't have done a better job."Senator Marty's well-researched, thoroughly-documented proposal is a blueprint not only for Minnesota but for people across the country who are eager to create a health care system that works.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2003 more than 43 million Americans lacked health insurance. Being uninsured is associated with a range of adverse health, social, and economic consequences for individuals and their families, for the health care systems in their communities, and for the nation as a whole. This report is the sixth and final report in a series by the Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance, intended to synthesize what is known about these consequences and communicate the extent and urgency of the issue to the public. Insuring America's Health recommends principles related to universality, continuity of coverage, affordability to individuals and society, and quality of care to guide health insurance reform. These principles are based on the evidence reviewed in the committee's previous five reports and on new analyses of past and present federal, state, and local efforts to reduce uninsurance. The report also demonstrates how those principles can be used to assess policy options. The committee does not recommend a specific coverage strategy. Rather, it shows how various approaches could extend coverage and achieve certain of the committee's principles.