The studies, policy analysts say, underscore the need for the government to address the growing unaffordability of care, despite the distraction -- and cost to taxpayers -- of a proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial sector.

“This makes clear the cost of doing nothing is high and growing,” said Len Nichols, a health economist at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan policy group in Washington that advocates universal medical coverage.

While policy analysts acknowledge that finding any new money to expand coverage may prove difficult, some also say the terms of the debate may be changing as policy makers and the public rethink their positions on the need for regulation and the role of the government in industry -- including the health care system.

“We can now imagine a government takeover that we could not imagine before,” Mr. Nichols said. LINK