Facts About Health Care

Millions of working Americans either aren't offered health coverage at their jobs, or they can't afford to buy the coverage that their employers offer. In 1997, Congress enacted the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to help working families get health coverage for their children. Every state has its own program, although it might be called something different in your state, and altogether, more than 6 million children are enrolled. The Children's Health Insurance Program provides children with access to comprehensive health coverage that helps them get a healthy start in life.

Quick fact: Children with health insurance are more likely to see a doctor for the preventive services that are important for their growth and development, like immunizations, and hearing and vision screenings.

For more information on Children's Health, click here.

Even with so many important health challenges here at home, it's important not to forget the large-scale issues plaguing the globe.

The term "global health" refers to health problems that transcend national borders. These problems include infectious and insect-borne diseases that spread from one country to another. Recent outbreaks of SARS and drug-resistant forms of TB confirm that infectious diseases are just a plane ride away. Global health also includes health problems that are of such magnitude that they have a global impact, meaning that they affect us here in the United States too.

Quick fact: 2.5 million people became infected with HIV, 8.8 million suffered from tuberculosis, and 1 million people, primarily children under five, died from malaria.

For more information on Global Health, click here.

Health care costs have become a growing burden for America's families, as premiums and out-of-pocket expenses continue to rise at alarming rates. Left unchecked, health care costs will keep going up, forcing more and more American families into debt - and even into bankruptcy. According to public opinion polls, health care is now among the top domestic priorities. At the same time, the economy is taking a tumble. With gas prices exceeding $4.00 a gallon across the nation and millions of families struggling to make credit card and mortgage payments each month, rising health care costs add insult to injury when it comes to the pocketbooks of American families.

Quick fact: Between 2000 and 2007 alone, the average premium for job-based family coverage increased by more than 90 percent, rising from $6,351 to $12,106.

For more information on Health Care Costs, click here.

Medicaid is our nation's health insurance program for people who are very sick or very poor; people who cannot afford to buy private health insurance, or who private insurance companies will not insure. Medicaid was enacted in 1965, at the same time as Medicare, to establish a health care safety net for people who were not covered anywhere else. That makes Medicaid one of the most diverse health insurers around: Today, 60 percent of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid, as do as one-quarter of all children.

Quick fact: Medicaid covers 29 million children, 15 million parents and pregnant women, and 14 million people who are elderly or have severe disabilities.

For more information on Medicaid, click here.

Medicare is the federal program that provides health insurance for people age 65 and over, as well as people with disabilities. Chances are that you or someone in your family is covered by Medicare today. Those of us who are not covered by Medicare today are Medicare beneficiaries of the future. This is because eligibility for Medicare is not based on income. You qualify for Medicare when you turn 65 based on your work history, just like you become eligible for Social Security benefits.

Quick fact: Baby boomers are not a major threat to the financial health of Medicare. Three-fourths of the of the expected increase in Medicare costs over the next three decades is due to rising health care costs. Only one-fourth is due to the aging of the baby boomers.

For more information on Medicare, click here.

Pre-existing conditions are health problems that individuals already had when they purchased coverage. In the majority of states, insurers do not have to offer you a policy at all if you have a pre-existing condition. If they do, they can price your premium infinitely higher than premiums for healthy people, and they can exclude coverage for the very health problems you sought coverage for. Furthermore, insurers may treat something as benign and unavoidable as below-average height as a pre-existing condition. And insurers also can deny you coverage or charge you more simply because your family has a history of medical problems. Very few restrictions exist in state law to curtail these discriminatory practices.

Quick fact: In twenty-five states and the District of Columbia, individual insurers can dig through more than a year of your medical history to decide if you have a pre-existing condition.

For more information on Pre-Existing Conditions, click here.

The demographics of the nation are changing. To date, African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Latinos make up one-third of the U.S. population, and that proportion is expected to increase to half by 2050. In many of America's major cities and urban areas so-called minorities now make up the majority. Unfortunately the rise in population has not been met with increased health coverage. People of color are less likely to have health insurance coverage, see a provider on a regular basis, and receive preventive screenings or routine health care services.

Quick fact: Racial and ethnic minorities make up just one-third of the U.S. population but over half of the uninsured.

For more information on Racial and Ethnic Disparities, click here.

Relentless growth in health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs over the last number of years has made paying for health care a challenge even for people with insurance. For many Americans, rising costs means that health care is consuming an ever-growing share of their family budgets - forcing them to make difficult sacrifices in other areas so that they can make ends meet. For many hard-working families, the burden of these health care costs has become too great to bear. A growing share of Americans report having trouble with medical bills: One in four adults with insurance reports that they are in the process of paying off medical debt or are having trouble paying their medical bills.

Quick fact: More than three out of five adults who report having problems paying their medical bills had insurance at the time they incurred their debt.

For more information on Underinsurance and Medical Debt, click here.

The health care crisis threatens the health and economic security of Americans. Health care costs have skyrocketed, especially in comparison to working families' wages. Deductibles and out-of-pocket costs such as co-payments are increasing rapidly; the health care services covered in insurance plans are shrinking; and some employers are dropping coverage for dependents, retirees, and even hard-working employees. As a result, changes over recent years have resulted in working families paying more and more while receiving less and less. These changes in the economics of health care have fueled a substantial increase in the number of people who are uninsured.

Quick fact: Four out of five uninsured Americans are in working families. One out of five uninsured Americans is a child.

For more information on Uninsured Americans, click here.