The Government estimates that 1.2 million elderly people would qualify for some help from the President's proposed insurance plan because they suffer from costly short-term illness.

There are other examples of irresponsible life styles leading to costly illness.

Insurers with small numbers of customers could be hurt much more severely than a large insurer by someone with a costly illness like cancer.

Some small employers may even drop all health coverage to avoid paying more to cover costly illnesses.

In addition, New York has many teaching hospitals, which treat patients with complex, costly illnesses.

These programs help current workers make healthy choices now that prevent chronic - and costly - illnesses in the future.

Indeed, families could still owe the tax just because they took deductions for the expense of treating costly illnesses.

Millions of Americans, unable to afford basic medical insurance, are terrorized by the prospect of costly illness.

A court decision allowing employers to revoke health coverage of employees with costly illnesses poses a problem for Bush.

They will face the choice of paying those premiums or accepting that costly illness could force them into destitution.