The positions of Presidential candidates on improving health care runs from the disappointing to the downright scary.

We haven't heard much from the Republicans. Democrats Al Gore and Bill Bradley both propose government-sponsored programs to cover more Americans -- but still not all -- who currently lack health insurance. The cost estimates of their proposals run as high as $1 trillion, enough to more than wipe out the national budget surplus. To finance such plans, Washington would have to ration health care: by using low-cost health care personnel, bare bones hospitals and clinics, and less effective drugs. Such austerity could douse scientific innovations such as customized gene-based therapies, discoveries that could allow us to be healthier in the first place!

In fact, there might not be a Medicare crisis, if Baby Boomers live through their later years at less risk to diseases like stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease.

So why don't the candidates promise us an all-out mobilization of U.S. science and technology to reduce the impact of chronic age-related diseases? If they did, their health care proposals would be very different from what we are currently being served--and much more in tune with reality.

If you would like your favorite candidate to say how they plan to improve your chances of health and longevity through accelerated medical research, here is your chance to let them know.

Be heard! Have a direct hand in making the need for greater medical research a major topic during this important political year!