"There are some serious problems with the health care system in the United States and...President Bush took aim at trial lawyers as one of the big ones. It was a waste of ammunition, a blatant political ploy and an attempt to shift at least part of the health care debate away from issues the president and his Republican Party apparently don't like to face. Trial lawyers who sometimes win large malpractice suits or judgments aren't the problem with health care, and the president knows it....But the real problem in the president's remarks in a High Point speech was...that Bush and his congressional allies continue to dodge solutions to major hardships for working families when it comes to health care....Rules ensuring prescription drug coverage for the poor and the elderly are disgracefully inadequate; health insurance premiums are going through the roof; Republicans in general have hardly been in the forefront of protecting patients' rights; there are millions of uninsured people in this country; long-term care is an emerging crisis for baby boomers and their families, yet the president has shown little leadership...."

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The News & Observer, 7/28/2002
For complete story, see
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/editorials/story/1590667p-1618507c.html