(FORTUNE Magazine) – With no cure in sight for soaring medical costs, big businesses have officially declared our health-care system DOA. GE, AT&T, and more than 100 other organizations affiliated with the National Coalition on Health Care have just come out with a proposal calling for universal health insurance. They argue that having 44 million Americans go without medical coverage drives up costs for other payers, primarily government and businesses. Coalition members want a federal law enacted requiring every citizen to purchase at least a basic health plan that covers all doctor visits and prescription-drug costs, with subsidies for those who can't afford one. Supplemental policies for dental, vision, and other care would cost extra. The coalition suggests several ways to pay for the plan--through employers, the government (i.e., taxpayers), or some combination--and figures it would cost $70 billion a year but would more than pay for itself by cutting health costs long term. Here's what the group estimates will happen to medical costs under the current system. --David Stires