The Forgotten Domestic Crisis. The nation's health care system is at the brink of collapse. War or no war, politicians will not be able to avoid it much longer. By Marcia Angell. [New York Times: Opinion]
What's wrong with this picture?
- Premiums rising at 13 percent per year (25 percent in some areas of the country).
- Coverage shrinking as more employers cap their contributions to health insurance plans and workers can't pay their rapidly expanding share.
- More people are losing what limited coverage they had -- nearly 1.5 million in 2001.
- The US per capita health care spending is twice what Europe pays.
"As John Breaux of Louisiana, long one of the most conservative Senate Democrats, recently told the press, 'The system is collapsing around us.'"
"If it weren't for the steady beat of war drums, health care would be front and center in this fall's political debate. And war or no war, politicians will not be able to avoid it much longer."
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