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United States Health Care Factsheet
1. There is a crisis in U. S. health care.
| Fact: |
U. S. national health expenditures were $1.3 trillion in 1996. This is 14%
of the gross domestic product. (This compares with $26.9 billion or 5.1% of GNP
in 1960.) |
| Fact: |
There are over 42, 000,000 Americans without health insurance; this includes
10 million children. |
| Fact: |
Those who now have health insurance can lose it by becoming seriously ill, by
losing a job, by changing jobs, by needing treatment for a condition the insurance
company determines to be "pre-existing." |
| Fact: |
For-profit HMOs' control over the health care industry is approaching 25% and
this percentage is rapidly growing. For-profit HMOs control 60% of the managed-care
industry. This has resulted in:
- A decrease in quality of care because profits are put before patients.
- Less patient choice of physician and treatment.
- Increased red tape, bureaucracy, and administration.
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| Fact: |
U. S. rank in world health care statistics has fallen rapidly. For example,
the U.S. ranks 17th in the world in the rate of infant mortality. |
2. Universal Health Care (a Single Payer System) Can
Ease the Crisis.
| Fact: |
It will put the patient's health before the business' profits. |
| Fact: |
It will offer quality health care to all. |
| Fact: |
Patients will have more control over choice of physician and treatment. |
| Fact: |
It will greatly reduce administrative bureaucracy, red tape and paperwork,
which means more money can be put towards providing care. |
3. Universal Health Care Costs Less Than Our Present System.
Let's compare costs:
| Type of cost |
United States |
Canada |
| Per capita health care cost (1994) |
$3510 |
$1982 |
| Administrative cost as % of total |
26% |
9% |
| Cost for typical family of four, gross income
$35,000/year, with average coverage |
$5780 [1] |
$3595 (full coverage) [2] |
[1] This is paid by the individual in premium contributions, out-of-pocket
expenses, co-pays, uncovered services and falling wages as employer health
care costs rise, etc.
[2] This is paid through a public tax system, shared fairly by all, based
on a national budget.
4. People Want a Real Change
| Fact: |
In 1996, 80% of Americans said:
- "something is seriously wrong with our health care system."
- "The quality of health care is compromised in the interest of profit."
- "Quality health care is almost unaffordable for the average person."
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(International Communication Research, January, 1997.) |
| Fact: |
Most doctors oppose for-profit HMOs:
- 75% see a loss of autonomy.
- 70% see a decrease in quality of care.
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(MSMS Survey of Physicians Characteristics, 1997) |
5. What "Single-Payer" Health Care is NOT
| It is NOT socialized medicine: |
Doctors and providers are independent, not employed by the government. |
| It is NOT managed care: |
Health care providers, not insurance company executives and clerks,
make clinical decisions. |
| It is NOT corporate medicine: |
It is not profit-driven but patient-driven. |
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