The United States is the only industrialized nation that fails to assure universal access to basic health care. Nearly 39 million people — mostly adults and children in wage-earning families — lack health insurance. Nor does holding onto a job guarantee coverage. Seven of every 10 Americans depend on their employers for their insurance, but in today's tight economy employers are chipping away at benefits, compelling employees to pay more of the cost and even eliminating coverage entirely. Four health-care proposals are being considered in Congress, but all would provide only limited benefits. Critics of universal coverage say the nation can't afford to insure everyone. But health-care advocates say the nation's piecemeal approach to insurance doesn't keep Americans healthy — and costs more in the long run.

Keith Epstein is an investigative reporter in BusinessWeek’s Washington Bureau. He has been a reporter in Washington since 1986, when arriving as a reporter for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, CIO Insight, Post-Newsweek’s Techway, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and on the Discovery Health Channel’s Web site. His work has included examinations of subprime markets in “The Poverty Business;” cyber threats and electronic espionage in the private and public sector; medical experimentation on people without their consent; and undisclosed side effects of drugs such as the anti-malarial pharmaceutical Lariam.