Ten Questions on the Health-Care Overhaul

By JANET ADAMY
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It is crunch time for health care. Lawmakers who are trying to fundamentally remake one-sixth of the U.S. economy say this might be the most complicated legislation they have undertaken.

Here are some basics that everyone can grasp -- and probably ought to, because the health bill, if it passes, will affect almost everyone.

1. What is the problem with health care, anyway? Is it as bad as they say?

The problem, as advocates for change see it, boils down to two big areas: high costs and lack of coverage. For some households and employers, the cost of care already is out of reach, and many more will struggle to afford it if costs keep escalating. Medicare is eating up a bigger share of government spending, and a growing number of bankruptcies and home foreclosures are linked to medical expense

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