Time For Acton On Health Care - 14% have No Insurance

According to the latest report almost one in every 7 people lack health insurance in this country. Slightly more than 14% which is only a little lower than in 2004. Additionally, almost 9% of children in the US have no health insurance. These figures are from the National Center for Health Statistics.

These statistics are part of the picture of a nation where a greater and greater amount of wealth is moving to the top 1% of the income bracket. It is a picture of an ailing country where only those with money can enjoy good health. This more the kind of thing I would expect to see in a country like Mexico, except that there they have a National Health Care plan. In fact the United States is the only major industrialized country in the world without public health care.

Some disturbing facts about US health care:

• The World Health Organization’s latest survey ranks the quality of U.S. health care 37th in the world.
  
• US infant mortality rate is higher than 42 countries, including tiny countries like Cuba, Andorra and Slovenia.
  
• Americans spend 16% of their income on health care, more than Canada (10%) or Switzerland (8%)

It’s time to take the message to Washington, and we have to be loud, because the health care lobby and drug lobby will try to drown out our voices with dollars. Let your representative know that Health Care is important and you are watching their votes on this issue. Encourage them to come up with a Single Payer Plan of National Health Insurance.