perhaps this article can help you? <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_19/b3932001_mz001.htm" target="_blank">http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_19/b3932001_mz001.htm</a> Notice the date? Costs are higher today By the way...the medicare plan for the entire country is a nice idea. Explain to me how we pay for it again? In it's present form it covers only a small segment of the population, and it is insolvent...i.e. no $ huge unsolved funding issues. Thanks.