2 Very Different Cures for Healthcare Crisis

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-health14sep14.story

2 Very Different Cures for Healthcare Crisis

As the issue moves into the campaign spotlight, Bush and Kerry outline starkly opposing views.

By Janet Hook and Peter Wallsten Times Staff Writers September 14, 2004

WASHINGTON — Although the presidential campaign has been dominated for months by Iraq and, more recently, the candidates' military records, few issues matter more to voters — or more profoundly divide President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry — than the plight of the U.S. healthcare system.

The system's problems now are coming into sharper focus on the campaign trail. Bush and his Democratic challenger began running ads on health policy in the last week, and their differences on the topic were spotlighted by an exchange Monday between the two camps.

The issue's new prominence has been spurred by a spate of reports documenting the rising cost of healthcare — and the dearth of adequate coverage for many.

Bush and Kerry do not simply disagree on how to deal with these troubling developments. They want to take the system in radically different directions.<snip>

[sybylla]

1. radically different, yet equally insufficient directions.

If health care is such an issue, why won't the candidates actually address it with real reform?