Health care advocates are heavily criticizing Bush’s health plan. They say that it actually shifts more of the cost of health care onto working Americans, imposes a new tax on those that already have health care and does nothing to hold down skyrocketing health care costs. We speak with Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. [includes rush transcript]

Bush also unveiled his plan to address the health care crisis in this country by changing the tax code. He proposed replacing the current tax break for employer-sponsored health insurance with a standard tax deduction for health insurance coverage. He claims that this will encourage more people not covered by medical insurance to buy a plan and discourage others from keeping the most costly health care plans. Bush’s plan would also divert federal aid from public hospitals in an effort to move the uninsured into private health coverage.

• President Bush.

Health care advocates are heavily criticizing Bush’s plan and point out that it does not expand coverage for the uninsured. They say that it actually shifts more of the cost of health care onto working Americans, imposes a new tax on those that already have health care and does nothing to hold down skyrocketing health care costs.

With us now from Boston is Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

• Dr. Steffie Woolhandler. Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard University and co-director of the Harvard Medical School General Internal Medicine Fellowship program. She is a co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.