AMERICA’S HEALTH CARE CRISIS: THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Budget Cuts:

· President Bush's Proposed 2008 budget cuts Medicare and Medicaid by more than $300 billion; slashes  health professions training by 66%, slashes scholarship for Disadvantaged Students;  cuts the Healthy Start Infant Mortality initiative, and cuts the Office of Minority Health.

http://majorityleader.house.gov/docUploads/BushBudgetHispanicAmerican.pdf)

Uninsured Children:

· 9 million American children are uninsured.  Hospitalized children in the U.S. who lack health insurance are twice as likely to die from their injuries as those with insurance

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-03-01-uninsured-kids_x.htm

Medical Bankruptcy:

· Half of all bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical expenses

· From 1980 to 2001 the annual number of bankruptcies tripled overall, while those due to medical expense went up 23 fold.

· Most of those who filed for bankruptcy because of medical costs were middle-income homeowners.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2005/february/bankruptcy_studykai.php

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/22/82247/2276

Minority Health: 

· More than 14.1 million Hispanics are without health insurance, more than 3 million of them children.  Uninsured Hispanics have increased by more than 2 million people during the Bush administration; the number of African Americans has increased by 795,000.

http://majorityleader.house.gov/docUploads/BushBudgetHispanicAmerican.pdf)

· Although racial and ethnic minorities constitute one third of the total U.S. population, they comprise more than one half (52 percent) of the uninsured population. In 2003, 23 million of the 45 million U.S. uninsured were racial and ethnic minorities.

http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/minority-health/facts/

· According to the latest figures 59.9% of Latinos and 42.9% of African Americans were uninsured for all or part of 2002 and 2003 compared to 23.5% of Whites.

http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/minority-health/facts/

The Uninsured, How Many?

· The number of uninsured Americans rose by 50%, from 31 million in 1987  to 46.6 million in 2005. (16% of the population), outpacing population growth by 127%.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8941004&sc=emaf

The Underinsured:

· 12% of adults who have insurance all year are underinsured.

· 73% of adults with incomes under 200% of the poverty level who have insurance are underinsured.

· Among persons with chronic disease or reporting poor or fair health, 43% (more than 3 times the average) are underinsured.

· 37% of adults have difficulty paying medical bills or have accrued medical debt.

· 54% of people who are underinsured go without needed care due to costs.  This compares to 59% who are uninsured and 29% who are fully insured.

http://www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=280812

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/22/82247/2276

Employer-Provided Health Insurance:

· Large companies' health care costs increased by 8% in 2006, nearly double the rate of inflation.  9% of  U.S. employers plan to offer only a high-deductible health insurance plan in 2008, compared with 5% in 2007.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/print_report.cfm?DR_ID=43646&dr_cat=3

How the United States Compares:

· The World Health Organization ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. ranked 37th.  In the fairness of health care, the U.S.  ranked  54th.  In cost of health care, the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world.

(http://207.44.245.159/article8191.htm

· The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens.

http://207.44.245.159/article8191.htm

Pharmaceutical Companies:

· Drug companies spent $900 million on lobbying, more  than any other industry, between 1998 and 2005. They donated a total of $89.9 million in the same period to federal candidates and party committees.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_pf.html

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