Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. Healthcare  is  emerging  as the  number  one  domestic  issue  in the  2008  presidential  election. For  that  reason,  Susan  Foote, a  health  policy  professor  at the  University  of  Minnesota,  says, voters  need  to  pay attention  and  ask  themselves  some  questions. What  role  does  or  should government  play  in  healthcare  in  America? And  what  is  our  own  belief  system  about the  responsibility  to  see  that all  individuals  have  access  to  health  care? Foote  says  that  Republicans  and  Democrats  differ fundamentally  on  where  to  begin  to address  the  healthcare  needs  of  Americans. The  Mccain  plan,  which  is consistent  with  some  of  the  other  Republicans, states  that  we  must  get  control  of healthcare  costs  first  and then  work  toward  universal  coverage, that  we  can't  afford  universal  coverage until  we  manage  health  care  costs. In  contrast,  the  Democratic  plans, while  they  vary  on  some  particulars, are  consistent  on  the  view that  the  most  important  goal  is  to  move toward  universal  access  and accompany  that  with  cost  constraints. But  the  goal  is  primarily  universal  access with  another  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.