UFCW | US Health Care Vital Statistics

U.S. Health Care Vital Statistics

The 2008 election presents voters with an opportunity to elect leaders who will fix out country’s broken health care system, and we hope that the information on this Web site will inspire you to take an active part in the upcoming election so that we can win quality, affordable health care for all.

ZERO
Number of industrialized nations besides the U.S. lacking a plan for universal health coverage.

$2 trillion
Amount the United States spent on health care in 2005.

47 million
Number of Americans without health coverage from 2005 to 2006.

8.7 million
Number of American children without health coverage from 2005 to 2006.

8 in 10
Uninsured Americans lived in working households in 2006.

1 in 8
Uninsured Americans are non-elderly veterans.

One in four
Americans have had problems paying for medical care during the past year.

5 million
Number of families who have filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of serious medical problems since 2000.

18,000
Number of people who die prematurely each year because they lack health coverage.

Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.

Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 87 percent, compared to cumulative inflation of 18 percent and cumulative wage growth of 20 percent during the same period.

Health insurance expenses are the fastest growing cost component for employers. Without drastic change, health insurance costs will overtake profits by 2008.

1 in 5 Americans did not have access to the health care they needed in 2006.

The number of Americans who went without health insurance in 2006 was more than the combined populations of New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

Total health care spending represented 16 percent of GDP.

updated 1/03/2008

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