And the Winner Is?

Some 47 million Americans live without health insurance, and many of those with insurance struggle to pay premiums and out-of-pocket costs. This makes it no surprise that the No. 1 domestic issue on the minds of voters in relation to next year’s election is healthcare, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. For the American Cancer Society, uninsured Americans also top the list of issues, with the oldest cancer organization committing its entire advertising budget to keeping the topic in the public eye. The ACS joins AARP, the Business Roundtable, Service Workers International, and heart, diabetes and Alzheimer’s groups to press candidates to offer solutions.

Heal has assembled a collection of online resources to shed light on the healthcare debate and candidates’ approaches to the health insurance quandary.

Check out www.allhealth.org and download “Health Care Coverage in America” (under “publications” on the toolbar, click on “other publications” and scroll down) for a clear explanation of the current healthcare system and the alternatives being offered. The material comes from the Alliance for Health Reform, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that focuses on healthcare.

For quotes directly from the candidates about healthcare, see The New York Times website at www.nytimes.com/ref/us/politics/HEALTH_POSITIONS_2.html.

To see where the candidates stand on all the issues, check The Washington Post, at http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/.

Find out which industries fund which candidate at www.opensecrets.org, a website run by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics, which researches campaign spending and its effect on elections. (Under “Who Gets” on the toolbar, go to “Presidential Data.”) This provides totals raised by each candidate so far. To find out which candidates have received the most from which industry, click on the category “Selected Industries” on the left.

The Kaiser Family Foundation offers a detailed discussion with each candidate about healthcare reform. Go to http://presidentialforums.health08.org/. Analysis and updates of candidates’ positions on healthcare can be found at www.health08.org. The voting records of each candidate can be found at www.ontheissues.org (click on “2008 race”).