The bipartisan, comprehensive plan would not be a federally run system, but would ensure that every American could have access to health insurance that cannot be taken away. The health care would be equal to that of congressional members, the bill's sponsors said, and would save $1.48 trillion over 10 years in health care spending.

"Americans want some type of help, some type of coverage, some type of access to health care for every single American," Bennett said at a news conference. "And that debate ought to be over."

Bennett joined with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Reps. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., to introduce the measure called the Health Americans Act. Bennett's office said the measure would be fully paid for by using the $2.2 trillion now spent on health care in the U.S.

The four sponsors of the legislation said they wanted to take action now on revamping the health care system and not wait until after the 2008 presidential election.

"The time to act is now, not 2009," Wyden said, noting it was supported by Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate. "Ignoring this opportunity would be a critical mistake."

Bennett added that a single-payer, government-run system wouldn't work and market forces have to play a role in any comprehensive reform. "Time has come to get this thing resolved," Bennett said.

Pat Schoeni, executive director of the National Coalition on Health Care, said she applauds Bennett and Wyden and the House sponsors because everyone else is talking about doing something, but not acting. While the group may not support the approach of the plan, she says, it does applaud its scope of covering everybody.

"Anybody who is bold enough and brave enough to propose coverage for all Americans, well, we think that's a very positive step," Schoeni said.

Health care reform is one of the hot topics in the presidential campaign and several candidates have proposed at least skeletal plans to change the current system. In 2005, the latest year statistics were available, some 47 million Americans went without health insurance, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. That number, about 16 percent of the U.S. population, is rising with some 1.3 million citizens added to the uninsured rolls in 2005, the coalition says.

tburr@sltrib.com