all; millions more have inadequate coverage. Health care costs are simply spinning out of control while benefits for those with health insurance are becoming more limited. Businesses are finding that their health plan costs are escalating too rapidly; the average increase for 2002 is expected to be 12%. Unions are being faced with an increasingly difficulty choice between wage increases and maintenance of health coverage.The role of the insurance industry in a universal health care system is a matter of debate. Some believe that a workable and equitable universal health care system requires that there be a single public insurer- the government- that replaces the 1500 private insurance companies that dominate the health care system in the United States now. Some "single payer" advocates believe that some private insurers could technically administer national health insurance in the way that Blue Cross does now for Medicare. But that would be a very different role from the one they play today. Other proponents of universal health care believe that it will be possible to preserve a larger role for private insurers, while strongly regulating them in order to avoid the inequities of today's system. Whatever plan is finally accepted must lead to reasonable and stable administrative costs in a system providing quality health care for all in an equitable manner, with effective oversight by the government. ]