Finding a way to provide affordable health insurance for everyone is a problem that has eluded politicians and business leaders for decades.

It's an issue that impacts everyone (including those with insurance) and isn't going away. Health care is a hot topic among the leading presidential candidates.

But while many in Washington are talking about health care, Gov. Rendell has put forth a smart and workable plan to provide health-care coverage for nearly 800,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians.

Rendell's plan would build on health-system reforms designed to keep patients safer, while reducing the relentless growth in medical costs and premiums for people with health insurance.

Even better, the plan seems fiscally sound, and is financed in a way that won't kill taxpayers. Unless you smoke. In that case, here's another reason to quit.

Rendell's plan would raise taxes on cigarettes by 10 cents a pack and enact the state's first-ever tax on chewing tobacco and cigars. Pennsylvania is the only state that doesn't tax smokeless tobacco.

Since smokers drive up health costs for the state and businesses, taxing them is an equitable solution. Not to mention that it's good health policy since the higher costs help drive down usage.

Additional money would come from the surplus in the fund Rendell set up to subsidize doctors' malpractice insurance costs. This is the perfect, no-new-tax piece of the insurance puzzle.

The plan would also help small businesses that currently provide insurance but have to compete against companies that don't pay for employees' health care. Currently, companies and employees that purchase health insurance underwrite the uninsured in Pennsylvania to the tune of about $1.4 billion a year, says Rendell's Office of Health Care Reform headed by former banker Rosemarie B. Greco.

So what's the holdup on Rendell's plan?

Talk to your legislators. Especially the ones with the Rs after their name.

Rendell's plan has been blasted by GOP lawmakers as unsustainable despite its substantial financial footing.

Then there's the dubious contention that Rendell's effort to get the plan approved by Valentine's Day is a rush job. That's a smokescreen. Lawmakers have had more than a year to consider the signature piece of Rendell's sweeping "Prescription for Pennsylvania" plan.

"We must really proceed cautiously, not with some artificial deadline," says Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware and Chester).

OK. Does anyone have a better plan? If so, let's see it. If not, voters should lobby their lawmakers for Rendell's plan. It's a winner for the uninsured, the insured, businesses and hospitals.

And it only costs smokers a dime.