Uninsured Americans

• As of 2011, about 47 million Americans are without health insurance. That number represents nearly 17 percent of the population. Of those, about 8.7 million are children. Health care costs have skyrocketed at five times the rate of inflation from 2000 to 2010 to the point that it's difficult for many uninsured Americans to pay the out-of-pocket expenses necessary to get medical treatment when they need it. The results of that are people not getting the medical care they need in a timely manner, if at all, and there has been an increase in emergency room visits for which hospitals must cover the costs. These results are bad for people's health and bad for the economy. According to an article by Ezra Klein, published November 2007 on the American Prospect website, 25 percent of people in 2007 didn't visit the doctor when they were sick because they couldn't afford to go.
  
  

Rising Health Care Premiums

• Due to the rise in the cost of health care, health insurance premiums also have skyrocketed. In a down economy, this has led employers to shift more of the cost of health insurance back to their employees. The result of this has been people and families declining health care coverage because they cannot afford the costs of living while paying high health care insurance costs. This means even less people have adequate health care coverage.
  
  

Quality Health Care

• The financial crisis of 2008, high unemployment, high health care costs and a high number of uninsured or underinsured people has caused hospitals to lose large amounts of money. As a result, many hospitals have turned to layoffs and staffing cuts to stay afloat. The result is that hospitals and other health care facilities are low on staff, which reduces the quality of health care they can provide. It also prevents hospitals and health care facilities from investing in new treatment options and technologies for patients, which can advance overall quality of the health care they provide.
  
  

Prescription Drugs

• The rising costs of prescription drugs in America has gutted social programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and is another reason for the sharp rise in the cost of health insurance. In fact, some health care providers won't accept Medicare or Medicaid patients because of the reduced rates. Insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare are still unable to negotiate lower rates with drug companies, which keeps the cost high and costs the government money, further degrading the economy.