Universal Health Coverage Endorsed by the Institute of Medicine, Bob Dole, and a Majority of Republicans Hardcore conservative ideologues consider the concept of universal health care blasphemous, but when seniors have to travel to Canada and Mexico to obtain prescription drugs at reasonable prices, pragmatism trumps unquestioning ideology... "The Institute of Medicine recommended yesterday for the first time that the government provide universal health insurance, attempting to spark an election-year debate on a decades-old problem that keeps getting worse...Separately, a survey by two pollsters, a Republican and a Democrat, for the American Hospital Association found that a majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, are willing to pay higher taxes to "assure every American citizen receives health care coverage." A.P. News Link