] After a decade of cost controls in the 1990s, insurance
] premiums have resumed their rapid growth - 11
] percent in 2001, 13 percent in 2002 and 14 percent in
] 2003, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
]
] Ford spent $30 billion in 2002 to cover insurance costs
] for 560,000 workers, retirees, dependents and surviving
] spouses, said Ford spokeswoman Brenda Hines. In 2003, the
] figure jumped $2 billion, adding nearly $1,000 to the
] cost of every Ford vehicle produced in the United States.

] Alarmed by his company's escalating health insurance
] costs and a frightening scarcity of remedies, Ford Motor
] Co. Chief Executive William C. Ford Jr. declared in
] December that the nation needs an entirely new health
] care system.
]
]
] Then he tapped Ford's vice chairman to craft a proposal
] to develop one.

[ There's a few interesting tidbits in this article, but the excerpt above truly struck me. This is Ford motor company devoting resources to crafting a new health care system for the country. If the politicians can't do it, industry will, I guess.

On a related issue, the president's much ballyhooed prescription drug card isn't being adopted very widely, as seniors are either confused by them or unwilling to risk having to pay more than they do now by getting the drugs from canada. If those cards flop, it's going to be a fairly major liability for Bush over the next few months. -k]