This would seem a heckuva time to unfurl a national health plan. Washington has big fires to put out in the financial markets. Taxpayers, meanwhile, face a zillion-dollar bill for economic stabilization on top of already soaring deficits. Can we afford a big new government program right now?

We have no choice. Health care is part and parcel of the economic crisis. Costing $2.4 trillion this year, our chaotic system drains the economy of resources that could go elsewhere. It straps ankl ...

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