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Facts At A Glance

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Since 2000, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance for families have increased by 73% (compared to 14% increase in inflation and 15% in wages).1

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As of 2004, over 46 million Americans including more than 8 million children were totally uninsured.2

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At least $286 billion, enough to cover all of the uninsured and to provide full health care coverage for everyone in the United States, is annually wasted on overhead paperwork by competing insurance companies.3

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In 2003, HMOs nearly doubled their profits from the previous year, totaling more than $10 billion in all.4 The health industry spent more than $300 million on lobbying in 2003 and another $300 million in campaign contributions since 2000.5

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According to a June, 2006 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, seniors hit with a coverage gap like the Part D donut hole are 22% more likely to die than seniors who aren't forced to pay thousands in out-of-pocket expenses. (Source: "The High Cost of Drug Caps: Benefit Limits Mean More Hospital Visits, Study Says," The Washington Post, Jun 6, 2006. Page: F.04

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Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices would save enough money to eliminate the donut hole entirely with no extra cost to taxpayers. (Source: The Savings from an Efficient Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, by Dean Baker, Jan. 2006.)

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