Pepper Commission recommends universal health care coverage

Many Americans are without adequate health care as costs continue to rise. Health care insurance is unaffordable or unavailable to over half the working poor, but hospitals can no longer bear the expense of uncompensated care. The United States Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care has issued recommendations to Congress entitled "Health Care and Long Term Care for All Americans." The Commission plan proposes a system that would be phased in over several years. This article discusses phases of the system from the first through the fifth year.