WASHINGTON (AP) — With health care an election-year priority, a major doctors' organization on Monday called for sweeping government action to guarantee coverage for all, reduce costs and improve the basic well-being of Americans.

Declaring that the U.S. health care system "is ill and needs a bold new prescription," the American College of Physicians endorsed either of the two general approaches being debated by Democratic presidential candidates: a government-run "single-payer" system that would cover everyone, or a new "public option" government plan that would offer comprehensive coverage t...