President George Bush’s health care plan might be a campaign ploy, but it’s better than nothing.

As one of the few civilized countries without a health care plan, the United States has needed to address this issue for a long time. But whether Bush decided to take action now or later, the issue was bound to come up in this age of insecurity,with many Americans worried about their jobs as well as their medical future.

Bush’s plan insures that every worker, regardless of health status, can get health care coverage and afford to keep it, in his words. It calls for $100 billion in tax credits and deductions over five years to help the poor and middle class buy up to $3,750 worth of health insurance a year.

When Bush’s political foes blast his plan as inadequate and claim there are too many shortcomings in it, it’s all the better, for it brings the issue into the open and leaves room for debate on the matter. Perhaps even a compromise can be reached between the republican’s view of too much health care as “socialized medicine” and the democrat’s belief that health care should be made available to all of the country’s citizens.

There is no easy solution to the question of how exactly this nation’s health care plan should be implemented and how it should be paid for. With democrats and republicans coming up with their own versions, though, it shows us we are finally moving forward on this issue after many years of ignoring it.