What really bothers me about this health insurance debate is that people don't seem to understand we are already paying for it.

People without insurance still become ill!

The leading cause of bankruptcy is unforeseen medical bills!

Higher premiums and health care costs are paid by all to cover the cost of those who cannot pay!

People not working on welfare have coverage while people who work do not? That is just plain wrong.

(CNN) -- One out of three Americans under 65 were without health insurance at some point during 2007 and 2008, according to a report released Wednesday.
With respect to health care reform, "the cost of doing nothing is too high," says Families USA.

With respect to health care reform, "the cost of doing nothing is too high," says Families USA.

The study, commissioned by the consumer health advocacy group Families USA, found 86.7 million Americans were uninsured at one point during the past two years.

Among the report's key findings:

• Nearly three out of four uninsured Americans were without health insurance for at least six months.

• Almost two-thirds were uninsured for nine months or more.

• Four out of five of the uninsured were in working families.

• People without health insurance are less likely to have a usual doctor and often go without screenings or preventative care.


"The huge number of people without health coverage is worse than an epidemic," Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said in a press release. "Inaction on health care reform in 2009 cannot be an option for the tens of millions of people who lack or lose health coverage each year ... the cost of doing nothing is too high."

The study came out the day before President Obama plans to hold a health care summit at the White House. The President says reforming health care is one of his top priorities.

The number of Americans without health insurance reported by Families USA is much higher than those reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the census numbers, in 2007 there were 45.7 million uninsured Americans.

Families USA says those numbers tell only part of the story. The Census bureau counts only people who were uninsured for the full calendar year. For its own study, Families USA commissioned The Lewin Group to analyze data from the Census Bureau and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Its study includes people who did not have health insurance for all or for part of the past two years.
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* MayoClinic.com: Health A-Z

Critics say the number of uninsured Americans cited in the Families USA report is misleading. "No one disagrees we have a problem with the uninsured," says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who advised Sen. John McCain on domestic and economic policy during the 2008 election.

But Holtz-Eakin thinks Families USA is exaggerating the numbers to make a political point the day before the White House summit. "They are simply choosing to report over a two-year window a measure that always gives you a larger number."

From NPR News - "The crushing cost of health care causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds; and by the end of this year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes. It's a crisis punishing families, battering businesses, squeezing our states, and increasingly, imperiling our own budget."

Families USA is a progressive American non-profit consumer health-care advocacy organization. It was co-founded by attorney Ron Pollack, its current executive director, and Philippe Villers, the organization's current President.

Pollack was Dean of Antioch School of Law, and argued cases involving food aid for low-income Americans before the Supreme Court.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Pollack as the sole consumer representative on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, where he worked on the Patients’ Bill of Rights.

Families USA is an influential health-care lobbyist in Washington, D.C. They've taken positions on every major piece of health care legislation, most recently the Medicare Part D plan.

The Hill newspaper named Pollack and Families USA one of the top twelve lobbyists on health insurance issues


Didn't the Messiah lay down the law regarding influential lobbyists getting involved in policy making?

Where did it say that they were getting involved in policy making?

that sounds like what Obama keeps sayin' everyday...day after day...after day...***beep***...this is recording...

Stocks resume slide on lack of positive news...he's doin a great job...in just 6 weeks...Americans have lost 30% of their wealth...gulp !...in the stock market...$2.2 trillion...re-gulp !!

Why are the facts bothering you?

it's not really the facts as much of his negative tone...I think he needs to lead...instead it's almost as if Pelosi and Reid are running the country...and...hes on the road selling their plan...it's so fugged up !!...It's like...who's in charge here !!!

When I hear him speak, I hear positive not negative.

here's part of whats going on...does the word crisis sound familiar....

You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.

Rahm Emanuel

We're in the worse recession since the Great Depression. Record numbers of people are unemployed, businesses are closing, there is a major health coverage problem. Those are facts.

Some would consider that a crisis.

remember Reagan...we're a shining city upon a hill...or...FDR...we have nothing to fear...but...fear itself...Obama's motto is...we have nothing to offer but fear itself... ...the point is...the President should be out their ...assuring Americans not scaring them...

yeah, he should be out there blowing sunshine up there arse's so they can feel better about their situation instead of trying to do something about it.

What a boon to businesses both large and small if they could stop worrying about health care?

Again...we are already paying for it but people are not getting care.

A healthier work force works more efficiently and misses fewer workdays.

Even those with insurance like my friend Lin who had the nerve to get cancer and who continue to work despite having a cancer that was suppose to kill her. She is now on her third cancer free year and even with what most would consider very god health insurance she faces bills so high she's lost her home and is now filing for bankruptcy. She did everything right too. Well educated, always employed, with a substantial nest egg before the cancer, great insurance and living quite frugally below here means. She is alive but in a financial hole so deep she has privately regretted living at times.

Those people who have state sponsored plans like those on welfare, retirees and veterans cannot get the care they require because physicians don't want to accept the lower reimbursements forcing people with easily treatable conditions to either ignore then until they get much worse and more expensive to treat or go to emergency rooms where we have to foot the $1k bill instead of the $40 bill that could have addressed the problem.

It's just obscene

What you said about his motto is not true and if you have listened to him you would know that. Obama talks about doing things and hope for the future. He is also letting us know that it's going to take hard work.

you've gotta remember...him and Emanual are from the streets of Chicago...I've seen their act for years...power and corruption is all they will leave in their wake...mark my words...also...don't listen to what he says...watch what he does...heres a guy who looked into the camera and said.." there are no earmarks in this bill "...turns out theres 8500 earmarks...so...he says...well...this is the Bush bill...well then veto it !...and come back with a bill without any earmarks...you know what ?...he'll sign the one with the earmarks...watch and see...

Hardly any children doctors or dentists will accept state health insurance in my city. I do mean...hardly any.

I think that's why the kid's end up in the ER. The ER takes the state insurance. And we all know that the ER costs more then a doctor's visit or preventative care.

My cousin's son was working out-of-state with a company that had no insurance. He was hosptialized for a couple of weeks and almost died. My cousin had to refinace their home to pay for it when their house was almost paid off. They are so broke now. They are barely making it.

medicaid doesn't pay very much to the doctors. that's why most won't accept it