Health Care Reform

Know Five Things
1. Americans Are Uninsured
In 2007, there were 46 million Americans without health insurance, which works out to 15% of the population. [American Health Care since 1994]

2. The Problem Is Getting Worse
Analysis by the Center for American progress shows 14,000 people lost their health insurance every day in December 2008 and January 2009. A new study by Families USA this week shows 86.7 million people—one out of every three Americans under the age of 65—were uninsured for some period of time during 2007 and 2008. [CAP] [Families USA]

3. The Current System Is Expensive
According to statistics, “Health spending in the United States averaged $7,421 per person in 2007, totaling $2.2 trillion, or 16.2% of our nation’s economy, up from 7.2% of GDP in 1970 and 12.3% of GDP in 1990.” Also, “Premiums for employer-provided health care have doubled since 2000 (the earliest year the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey has on record). That year the average family premium was $6,800. By 2008, it had risen to $12,700. This premium growth eats away at wages and pressures firms to reduce coverage.” [Kaiser Fast Facts]

4. The Quality of the Current System Should Be Better
According to the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008” by the Commonwealth Fund, the United States fell to last place among 19 industrialized nations in mortality from cases that “might have been prevented with timely and effective care.” In fact, the study found that “101,000 fewer people would die prematurely each year from causes amenable to health care if the U.S. achieved the lower mortality rates of leading countries.” [The Commonwealth Fund]

5. Effect On American Families
According to a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “Slightly more than half (53%) of Americans say their household cut back on health care due to cost concerns in the past 12 months. The most common actions reported are relying on home remedies and over-the-counter drugs rather than visiting a doctor (35%) or skipping dental care (34%). Roughly one in four report putting off health care they needed (27%), one in five say they have not filled a prescription (21%) and one in six (15%) say they cut pills in half or skipped doses to make their prescription last longer.” [Kaiser Family Foundation]

Read Additional Resources

White House “Health Care For All Americans,” www.healthreform.gov [Health Care Reform]

• Excerpt: “...Reform is imperative to help America?s families struggling with rising costs and those who are losing their insurance. At the same time, real health care reform is crucial to keeping American businesses competitive in the world economy and for the country?s long-term economic viability…”

“American Health Care Since 1994: The Unacceptable Status Quo” CAP, 01/08/09. [American Health Care since 1994]

• Excerpt: “...One indicator of America’s declining health care quality is infant mortality…Despite enormous per-person health expenditures, the United States ranks 26th in the world in infant mortality, behind the Slovak Republic and just ahead of Poland…”

“Why Not the Best?” The Commonwealth Fund, 07/17/08 [Commonwealth Fund]

• Excerpt: “...evidence in the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008, shows that care typically falls far short of what is achievable. Quality of care is highly variable, and opportunities are routinely missed to prevent disease, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. Across 37 indicators of performance, the U.S. achieves an overall score of 65 out of a possible 100 when comparing national averages with benchmarks of best performance achieved internationally and within the United States…”

“Survey: Health care cost keeps the doctor away,” AP, 02/26/09.[AP]

• Excerpt: “...One in four Americans said in a survey that someone in the family put off needed health care in the past year because of cost, including 16 percent who postponed surgery or a doctor’s visit for chronic illness…”

“In health plan, industry sees good business,” MSNBC, 03/05/09. [MSNBC]

• Excerpt: “...The lure for the industry is the prospect of tens of millions of new customers: If Obama succeeds in fulfilling his pledge to cover many more Americans, those newly insured people will get checkups, purchase medicine, undergo physical therapy and get surgeries they cannot afford today…”

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