America's Fragmented Health Care System

The American health system is rapidly approaching crisis. For those fortunate enough to have health insurance, health care costs are escalating — health insurance premiums rose almost 14 percent in 2003, the biggest increase in over a decade. For the 43 million people who went without health insurance last year, the system has already collapsed. As more and more people feel the strain of spiraling costs and face the fear of losing coverage entirely, the public increasingly cites these dual predicaments — rising health care costs and the growing number of people without health coverage — as the biggest health care problems America faces. In fact, recent polls show that Americans are as concerned about health care costs as they are about the war in Iraq and terrorism. The consequences of the instability and high cost of health insurance coverage for our nation’s health are tremendous.

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