With insurance premiums rising and fewer employers offering heath plans, Americans are facing a future where our health may be in our hands � at a price. The neediest of citizens � the disabled, ill and children � are facing new challenges to federal care programs. Most people are reluctant to fund universal healthcare, yet even the cost of some prescriptions with insurance forces many to travel overseas for the same medications. Why is it so hard to get affordable access to healthcare?

• In 2005, nearly 48 million Americans will be uninsured for the entire year.
  
• There are more uninsured children in California than in all of Europe.

From basic examinations to prescription medications to chronic illness, many families find maintaining their health to be a growing financial burden � with or without insurance. For the uninsured, this means more trips to the emergency room, fewer preventative care opportunities and higher costs overall. Medical facilities cover the expenses for unpaid care by raising the charges for all services. Would you rather pay for someone�s emergency care or the less expensive cost of better health overall?

• Health insurance premiums for families who have insurance through their private employers, on average, are $922 higher in 2005.
  
• Almost two thirds of U.S. adults polled cite lowering the costs of health care and health insurance as a top priority for the President and Congress, followed by making Medicare more fiscally sound for the future and increasing the number of Americans with health insurance.

Faced with an unprecedented national deficit, many federal programs are being trimmed, including Medicare and Medicaid. This September, the Bush Administration has asked for a proposal to cut $10 billion dollars from Medicaid � the first stage of a proposal to cut $60 billion over the next 5 years. Medicaid, the nation�s health care program for more than 50 million low-income children, seniors, working families, and people with disabilities, provides comprehensive health care to individuals who would otherwise likely be uninsured.

• Cuts in Medicaid would heighten the existing disparities in communities of color already facing a higher rate of uninsurance and lack of access to healthcare.
  
• Roughly one in five nonelderly Latinos, African Americans, and American Indian/Alaska Natives, and about one in 10 non-elderly Asian Americans, rely on Medicaid for health care.

Why is healthcare so expensive? How ethical is the healthcare industry? Why are people reluctant to support a universal healthcare system? Who has access to insurance? What are the alternatives to the current healthcare system? What are the ethics of the current medical system? What options do people � with or without insurance � have? Why are pharmaceuticals so expensive in this country? Why are pharmaceutical companies allowed to have a patent for so many years? What is the price of a pill? Is there more money in the disease than the cure? What are the consequences of overpriced pharmaceuticals? Why are company profits more important than public health? How can we have a healthy economy when we have so many people who can�t afford their health? Why are vision and oral healthcare auxiliary concerns? Can we afford to stay healthy?

Talking Points