They have, in fact, become worse. There are now more than 42 million uninsured and millions more are underinsured. These costs account for one dollar out of every eight spent in the U.S. economy today. There are serious and growing problems in the quality of much of our care, with overuse, underuse and misuse of services. As a result, millions of Americans are injured and more than one hundred thousand die unnecessarily each year.
Health care is a major issue for American businesses.
Those businesses that provide health insurance for their workers often pay more than they should as the cost of treating uninsured patients is shifted to the insurance-paying employers, their employees, and public in the form of higher medical costs and inflated insurance premiums. High and rising health insurance premiums have forced businesses to shift a larger share of the cost of health insurance to workers making it increasingly difficult for workers to afford employment-based coverage and a workforce with no access to preventive care lives in fear of getting sick, may be less productive, and is more likely to switch jobs in order to obtain health care benefits. In spite of these major problems in the health care system, policymakers have not developed legislative programs adequate enough to address these issues. Rather, they have tried incremental efforts which have not solved the uninsured problem, made health insurance more affordable, or improved the quality of care. And, despite well-intentioned efforts to pass legislation that would give consumers a patient's bill of rights or add a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program, these measures will do little to address the major problems in the health care system.