FACTS & QUOTES

"Politicians love to say that the United States has the best health care system in the world. In truth, it doesn't come close...What kind of system excludes people with illnesses beyond their control? What kind of system forces people to choose between risking financial ruin and risking their
lives?"
-- CRITICAL CONDITION, How Health Care in America Became Big Business and Bad Medicine, by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele.

America’s health care bureaucracy cost U.S. $399.4 billion, last year. National health insurance would save at least $286 billion annually just on paperwork – more than enough to cover all of the uninsured and to provide full prescription drug coverage for everyone in the U.S.
-- from a Harvard Medical School study, January, 2004

“One out of three people in the United States under the age of 65 went without health insurance for all or part of the two-year period from 2002-2003.”
-- from Families USA report,, June 2004

On insurance industry efforts to blame rising premium costs on malpractice law suits:

“It may be hard to understand why ‘tort reform’ is even on the national agenda at a time when insurance industry profits are booming, tort filings are declining, only 2 percent of injured people sue for compensation, punitive damages are rarely awarded, liability insurance costs for businesses are miniscule, medical malpractice insurance and claims are both less than 1 percent of all health care costs in America, and premium-gouging underwriting practices of the insurance industry have been widely exposed.”
-- Center for Justice and Democracy, quoted in 6-21-04 NYT)

“Despite claims by the insurance industry, there is no evidence that soaring malpractice premiums are the result of sharp increases in the amounts of money paid out for malpractice claims. And, tellingly, industry executives are careful not to say that the tort reforms sought by the Bush administration will result in premium reductions.”
-- NYT columnist Bob Herbert, 6-21-04

The Bergen Record in NJ reported that an analysis of data showed that malpractice payments in New Jersey declined by 21% from 2001 to 2003, “…but malpractice insurance premiums surged over the same period.”

Florida legislative committee put insurance executives under oath in effort to get truth about malpractice costs. When questions of frivolous lawsuits arose, the chief executive of the Florida Medical Association told the panel, “I don’t feel I have the information to say whether or not there are frivolous lawsuits in the state of Florida.”
-- NYT columnist Bob Herbert 6-25-04

On the role of corporate money in influencing public healthcare decisions:

“In 2000, 92% of soft money that went to the key members of Congress who make decisions about health care and financial matters came from huge insurance, banking and health care industry firms, and professional associations such as the AMA. The profits of the health insurance industries have reached an all-time high during the administration of George W. Bush.”
-- Vicente Navarro, Professor of Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University

“A campaign that ran a $50,000 operation came just about even with a $5 million operation.”
-- Massachusetts Health Care after losing 51-49 in November 2000

“We collected 100,000 signatures to place Health Care for All Oregon on the November 2002 ballot. However, the thousands of hours of volunteer labor could not counteract the $1.3 million spent on television ads and direct mail by insurance companies.”
-- Health Care for All Oregon campaign manager