Oregon Senator Pushes Universal Coverage Plan
In the final report of a five-part weekly series on health care reform, NPR's "Morning Edition" on Monday examined Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) efforts to expand health insurance in the U.S.
Wyden in December 2006 introduced the Healthy Americans Act, a universal coverage proposal under which insurers would provide coverage to individuals directly, rather than through employers.
Wyden has worked on health care-related causes since college and has advocated for various changes in the health care system since his election to the House in 1980. He said current calls from the business community for changes to the health care system indicate that there is a greater opportunity for reform now than there was for former President Clinton's proposal in the early 1990s.
The segment includes comments from Wyden and Len Nichols of the New America Foundation (Rovner, "Morning Edition," 4/16).
Audio and a partial transcript of the segment are available online.