Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has urged President Obama to make universal healthcare his biggest priority, second only to rescuing the economy.
Krugman, a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, is a columnist for The New York Times.
He offered his recommendations in an open letter to the new president published in the February issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
Krugman noted that many people who lost their jobs or faced losing their jobs would also face losing their health insurance - a situation that would worsen "the already grim state of U.S. healthcare and crowding emergency rooms with those who have nowhere else to go."
"Now is the time to pass legislation establishing a system that covers everyone," he said.
"The biggest, most important legacy you can leave to the nation will be to give us, finally, what every other advanced nation already has: guaranteed healthcare for all our citizens," he wrote.
"The current crisis has given us an object lesson in the need for universal healthcare in two ways. It has highlighted the vulnerability of Americans whose health insurance is tied to jobs that can so easily disappear. And it has made it clear that our current system is bad for business, too - the Big Three automakers wouldn't be in nearly as much trouble if they weren't trying to pay the medical bills of their former employees as well as their current workers."
Krugman acknowledged that a single-payer system would probably not be achievable today.
"So the thing to do in your first year in office is pass a compromise plan - one that establishes, for the first time, the principle of universal access to care," he said.
He urged Obama to ignore the naysayers, and noted, "There's good reason to believe that healthcare reform will save money in the long run."
"Universal healthcare, then, should be your biggest priority after rescuing the economy," he concluded.
Krugman called on the president-elect to spend "on things of lasting value," including healthcare information technology. Healthcare IT, like similar infrastructure investments, would help create jobs, which in turn would help mitigate the existing economic crisis, he said.
Obama has pledged $50 billion over five years to support the adoption and use of healthcare IT.
"As much as possible, you should spend on things of lasting value, things that, like roads and bridges, will make us a richer nation," Krugman wrote. "Upgrade the infrastructure behind the Internet; upgrade the electrical grid; improve information technology in the healthcare sector, a crucial part of any healthcare reform."
Krugman went on to suggest that Obama provide aid to state and local governments to prevent them from cutting investment spending at precisely the wrong moment.
"And remember, as you do this, that all this spending does double duty: It serves the future, but it also helps in the present, by providing jobs and income to offset the slump," Krugman said.