Americans think everyone should be able to get health care. And they believe the "tremendous amount of resources now being spent on health care should be enough to ensure access to quality care for everyone if these resources were allocated more efficiently," according to a report from a health reform panel created by Congress.

The Citizens' Health Care Working Group on Monday released its recommendations, based on comments from thousands of Americans at public hearings, through an Internet poll, and by e-mail and letters. Those recommendations are being sent to the president and to Congress, which in 2003 formed the working group to find out what Americans want in terms of health-care access and what they are willing to pay for it.

The No. 1 priority, panelists were told repeatedly, is making it "public policy" that all Americans have affordable health care, followed by guaranteeing financial protection against very high health-care costs.

The report notes Americans show a "clear willingness to pay a fair share, to try to do a better job of taking care of themselves and to accept limits on coverage if based on good medical evidence."

When it formed the working group, Congress promised that five congressional committees would hold hearings on the recommendations it came up with. The president, who was to receive the report Monday, is also expected to respond.

While those commenting had various notions on how a more accessible system should be organized — from a federally operated system to free market all the way — they said they want everyone to have coverage. And they want it soon, with some level of financial protection created in the short term while health care is being reformed.

The report says Americans spend nearly $2 trillion on health care annually, which the majority of those who participated in the hearings process believe could fund the reform. And it adds that from the time the panel was created by Congress and gathered its information, another 1 million Americans became uninsured.

The report recommends that Congress enact legislation to protect everyone from very high health-care costs, promote integrated community health networks and create a quality improvement component.

The hardest recommendation, the group suggested, is deciding what core benefits and services everyone is entitled to receive. The group recommended those need to be decided in a process that is open and visible, overseen by an entity that's not subject to political or financial influence.

As for end-of-life care, Americans told the working group they believe people should be able to access the services they need in the environment they choose at the end of life.

The 15 members of the Citizens' Health Care Working Group include a cross-section of America, from consumers to business, health providers, the disabled and others. Mike Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services, is also a member.

The entire report and more on the working group's meetings and the data it gathered are available online at www.citizenshealthcare.gov.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com