A stop-gap measure  Thurman Hart/NJ Voices By Thurman Hart/NJ
Voices on July 08, 2009 at 1:00 PM, updated July 08, 2009 at
1:01 PM  If you work at all, 2.9% of your gross income is paid
into the Medicare system (if you aren't self-employed, that
percentage is split between you and your employer). That works
out to just over sixty hours per year of your pay going to
provide insurance for someone else. This includes the elderly,
but also the severely disabled. We can always quibble over the
details, but most Americans agree that these populations should
have this kind of coverage.  There are several problems with
this arrangement, though. First of all, it means that a lot of
people are working to pay for someone else to have insurance,
but have no such protection themselves. In 2005, it was
estimated that some 20 million Americans exist in that category.
About twenty percent of that group say that their health is
either fair or poor - which I would take as an indication that
they could really use coverage. It s