61.   His experience with heart disease has given him a first-hand look at the problems Americans face with health costs, he said.

62.   House Republicans say such accounts would help control health costs because people would realize they were spending their own money.

63.   HMOs have long boasted that they hold down health costs, but their ability to do so has been challenged by hospitals and doctors demanding higher payments.

64.   However, advocates say the studies do inflate overall health care costs.

65.   Hughes admits he never thought much about health costs during his years as an executive and sales manager with several companies.

66.   How in the world can Washington pass a bill that raises health costs at a time when costs are already going through the roof?

67.   However, expenses like these are one reason US health costs are so high, and why many businesses and individuals find health-insurance premiums beyond their reach.

68.   HMOs generally hold down health costs by limiting patients to a roster of affiliated doctors and hospitals and by controlling access to services.

69.   In an earlier stop in Albuquerque, N.M., he touted his newly adopted position that mental health costs should have parity with other medical expenses in insurance policies.

70.   In addition, the proposal has drawn opposition from businesses such as Bell Atlantic, who argue it would raise their retiree health costs.