COLUMBUS, Ohio:
A push for universal health coverage is being rekindled in some states by the rising cost of health care and the lack of political support in Washington for federal changes.

Advocates of a single-payer system, in which the government would collect taxes and cover everyone, have introduced bills in at least 18 state legislatures. Some are symbolic gestures, but heated debate is taking place in California and Vermont.

In Ohio, doctors, union officials and religious leaders are gathering signatures to get a single-payer health system on the ballot next year.

"The level of misery with private insurers is rising, and that's why we're seeing this increased activity," said Larry Levitt, Vice President of the California-based Kaiser Family Foundation, which analyzes health-care issues.

"But whether one state can succeed, I don't know."

Not since Oregon in 2002 has a state voted on a single-payer health system. Voters there soundly rejected it, as did Californians in 1994. The proposals came under fierce assault from the medical, insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

Across the nation, the number of un- insured people is 45 million and rising, and 16 million lack enough insurance to cover their medical bills.

Premiums for employer-sponsored health plans rose an average of 11.2 percent in 2004, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Companies are raising employee fees for health care, increasing co-payments and decreasing benefits.

Mainstream medical groups, including the American Medical Association, oppose single-payer systems. The AMA fears that they would stifle the development of new medical technology and create longer waits for patient care should government budgets become strapped for money.

Advocates dismiss those arguments as scare tactics.

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