http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/dems/fivethings/reformguide.pdf
Five things to do: http://www.harvarddems.com/home/fivethings/
Final language for signs
Guidelines: Please remember to include your names and keep your facts down to no more than two or three sentences. Also include your source.
Choosing between your sight and the sight of your children is NOT an option. Public Option NOW!
Andrew White
Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the United States. Take action for a public option so we can join the other industrialized nations in administering fair and proper health care.
Source: CDC - http://mchb.hrsa.gov/chusa07/hstat/hsi/pages/207iim.html
Hallie Mitnick
62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses. We need to reform the healthcare system to bring down costs. http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml Antonio Bermudez
More than 60% of home foreclosures are caused by high medical costs; 75% of these foreclosed families had health insurance. We needed health insurance reform yesterday. Source: American Journal of Medicine - http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5530Y020090604?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0) Dan Smith
More deaths are associated with a lack of health insurance than are caused by kidney disease each year in the United States.
Source: Wilper, Woolhander, Lasser, McCormick, Bor, and Himmelstein. "Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults." American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 99 (Issue 12). December 2009. Available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19762659?dopt=Abstract
Mike Schillawski
Facts for the sign
People with insurance pay for much of that uncompensated care - a total of $42.7 billion in 2008 - through higher premiums (harvard dems reform guide)
25% higher risk of death among uninsured compared with privately insured adults; Uninsurance is associated with mortality. (http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2008.157685v1)
Today, young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 make up nearly one-third of the uninsured population. They have the highest rate of uninsured of any age group.
Holding other things constant, a 22 year old woman can be charged
1.5 times the premium of a 22 year old man.
US ranks 28th in infant mortality rate among other countries. Tied with Poland, behind Cuba. (Source: CDC - http://mchb.hrsa.gov/chusa07/hstat/hsi/pages/207iim.html)
Half of bankruptcies in the US can be attributed to exorbitant health care costs. (Source: Health Affairs - http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/hlthaff.w5.63v1)
More than 60% of home foreclosures are caused by medical costs; 75% of these foreclosed families had health insurance. (Source: American Journal of Medicine - http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5530Y020090604?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0)
According to another published article, about 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure every year due to unaffordable medical costs. http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
“The United States spends twice as much on health care per capita ($7,129) than any other country.” (Source: CDC - http://www.healthpaconline.net/health-care-statistics-in-the-united-states.htm)
"...a young Ohio woman named Trina Bachtel, who was having health problems while pregnant, tried to get help at a local clinic. Unfortunately, she had previously sought care at the same clinic while uninsured and had a large unpaid balance. The clinic wouldn’t see her again unless she paid $100 per visit — which she didn’t have. Eventually, she sought care at a hospital 30 miles away. By then, however, it was too late. Both she and the baby died."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/opinion/11krugman.html
Overall, 28 percent of Americans reported loss of coverage or benefit reductions, and cuts were seen across all income levels. And given the current economy, such cuts could have a real impact on the health of Americans. In a previous survey we found that trying to save on prescription drugs can lead to risky behaviors. This poll bore that out—about half of Americans—51 percent—reported that they had to make one or more difficult medical decision due to costs in the last year, including:
• Putting off a doctor’s visit (28 percent) • Inability to pay for medical bills or medications (25 percent) • Putting off a medical procedure (22 percent)
because of loss of coverage
• Declining a medical test (20 percent) • Not filling a prescription (20 percent) • Using expired medications (15 percent) • Skipping a scheduled dose (15 percent) • Splitting pills (13 percent) • Or sharing a prescription with someone else (9 percent) Source: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2009/10/health-care-reform-bill-proposals-in-congress-2009-costs-pay.html
Economists have found that rising health care costs correlate with significant drops in health insurance coverage, and national surveys also show that the primary reason people are uninsured is due to the high and escalating cost of health insurance coverage.
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
A recent study found that 62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses. Of those who filed for bankruptcy, nearly 80 percent had health insurance. http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
Without health care reform, small businesses will pay nearly $2.4 trillion dollars over the next ten years in health care costs for their workers, 178,000 small business jobs will be lost by 2018 as a result of health care costs, [$834 billion in small business wages will be lost due to high health care costs over the next ten years, small businesses will lose $52.1 billion in profits to high health care costs and 1.6 million small business workers will suffer “job lock“— roughly one in 16 people currently insured by their employers http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml]
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/29/2182
http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml <----This website has a ridiculous amount of coverage facts
Thirty percent of young adults do not have health insurance, compared with 17 percent of older adults. (http://partybuilder.collegedems.com/page/content/cdahcreform/)
Unaffordable Blue Cross/Blue Shield co-pays forced Monique Zimmerman-Stein of Wesley Chapel, FL to chose between saving her sight, or saving the sight of her young daughter. She chose to lose her sight, but her family has still owed a half-million dollars in bills not covered by insurance in the past decade.
Kenneth and Dee Hetrick love one another. But when Kenneth lost his job, the couple was faced with a $10,000 deductible and medical bills for Kenneth's muscular dystrophy. They made $45,000 dollars last year, and owed $41,000. They didn't qualify for Medicaid, but they struck upon a desperate solution: if Kenneth were single, he would qualify. So, they did the only thing they could, and divorced one another.
http://www.uticaod.com/business/x1992006035/Health-care-horror-stories-Insurance-lost-bills-pile-up
Rescission stories:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/07/AR2009090702455.html
Government health insurance is more efficient than private health insurance
Medicare: 3% overhead Non-profit insurance: 16% overhead Private insurance: 26% overhead
Source: Journal of American Medicine
Canvas language
Better Care.
Lower Costs.
How? A public option.
More Choice.
Billions Saved Every Year.
How? A public option.
Public Option
More Choice.
Billions Saved Every Year.