Health care reform faces inconvenient questions

1. Who would foot the bill for extending health insurance to 30 million more Americans?

2. Would doctors and hospitals be able to cope with the expected influx of millions of new patients?

3. Wouldn't illegal immigrants still get care, often for free, in hospitals?

4. Who would enforce the requirement that individuals have coverage?

5. Will employers stop providing health care coverage if a public plan is available?

6. How can spending less on Medicare produce better care for participants?

7. What other programs would need to be cut if Obama's promised savings don't materialize?

8. Similar plans have failed in several states. How would a federal plan avoid the same fate?

9. Can the president make good on his promise not to "add one dime" to the national debt?

10. The president says that he can save $500 billion in waste and fraud in Medicare. Has the government ever succeeded in such an ambitious cutting effort?

11. Is it true, as the president and Democratic leaders have argued, that "special interests" are trying to block reform?

12. Do we need "demonstration projects" on medical malpractice reforms to find effective ways to control lawsuit costs?