From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (misc.activism.progressive co-moderator) Subject: F<O>CUS/HEALTH: Millions of Americans un-/under- covered  F<O>CUS/HEALTH: Millions of Americans un-/under- covered  		 ===================================  		 Percentage of population covered by  		  public health insurance, 1990(25)  		 ===================================   =============================================  COUNTRY      PERCENT  COUNTRY         PERCENT  =============================================  Australia      100    Sweden            100  Canada         100    United Kingdom    100  Denmark        100    Austria            99  Finland        100    France             99  Ireland        100    Switzerland        99  Italy          100    Spain              99  Japan          100    Belgium            98  New Zealand    100    Germany            92  Netherlands    100    United States      21  Norway         100    Sources: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris),  Health Data file, 1991: U.S.: National Center for Heath Statistics, Advance  Data, No. 201, June 18, 1991.   ****************************************************************** "We're Number One in percentage of population without health insurance.  ******************************************************************  "The main reason we're Number One in  percentage of population without health  insurance  is  that we're last  in  percentage  of  population covered  by public health insurance. Only about one fifth of Americans qualify for the main types of public health insurance available in the United States: Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans' benefits.(2l)  "Of those  who don't  qualify, many  have private  insurance.(22)  But almost  one  in  seven  Americans  (34  million people--most living in families with a working adult) have  no insurance  at  all, and one in four (63 million) have been without insurance for a substantial period of time during the last two years. Many more have inadequate coverage, meaning that they could be bankrupted by a major illness.(23) In fact, one  health  care  expert  says that because  only 1  percent  of  the population  has   private   longterm-care  insurance,  "virtually  any American could be  impoverished by a prolonged disabling illness."(24) Additionally, as many as  40 percent of those  eligible for some forms of public aid do not  receive  it. These  gaps in health  care  result directly from  the  fact  that  the  United  States is  the only major industrialized  nation (other than  South Africa) without  a  national health insurance  plan providing  universal coverage while controlling costs.  ****************************************************************** From:     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -     _We're Number One, Where America Stands -- and Falls -- in the New       World Order_ by Andrew L Shapiro.       New York, May 1992, Vintage Books, a division of Random House.      $10 paperback. ISBN 0-679-73893-2      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -      [Transcribed by jhwoodar@well.sf.ca.us (Joe Woodard)]       ``America is becoming a land of private greed and public squalor.          This book is an indispensable road map through the wreckage. The          facts it reveals will startle you. They may depress you. But          ideally they'll fire you up to help rebuild this nation.''