Paying for Health Care Reform

Americans want health care reform, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll, but they stumble over the really tough issues: controlling costs and paying for the overhaul. Most want to require employers to provide health insurance for workers, and a majority are against taxing health care benefits to pay for the uninsured. Cutting Medicare beneifts is out, too.

It's interesting to consider this poll in light of the legislation now working its way through Congress. All current proposals contain a mandate: Everyone will be required to carry health insurance, and the government will offer subsidies for those who can't afford it. But according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the size of those subsidies is dwindling.

So where do you stand on this issue? While there are no easy answers, we all seem to agree that the problem is too large to ignore. I'd love to hear your views.