Over 45 million Americans are without health insurance, and an estimated 14 million of the uninsured suffer from chronic diseases. Many other developed nations have embraced the single-payer approach. Could this be the answer? On the eve of the 2008 presidential election, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H. discusses the future of healthcare in the US. She is the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates a single-payer system. She practices primary care internal medicine at The Cambridge Hospital, teaches at Harvard as an associate professor of Medicine, and is co-director of the General Internal Medicine Fellowship Program.