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In July 2012, the Congressional Budget Office estimatedthat 55 million Americans under the age of 65 are currently uninsured; representing 1 outof 5 in that population. Most of the uninsured go without health coverage because they cant afford it, and they would purchase it if they could.

The uninsured are less likely to receive preventive care, and less likely to seek care as quickly when they are sick or injured. This results in highercosts when they do seek treatment. In addition, nearly 40 percent of the health care costs of the uninsured are passed on to consumers who dohave coverage, in the form of higher premiums. According to Families USA, this costs each family with health coverage more than $1,000 a year.

Too manypeople lack

healthcoverage.

Health care spending represented 17.9 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, and is expectedto reach 20 percent by2020. Medicarealone accounted for 15 percent of our federal budget in 2011, and absent reform, this share is expected to grow as the baby boomgeneration continues to retire.

Rising health care costs both contribute to our federal deficit and reduce our ability to spend in other important areas including education,housing, and economic development. And the high costs of health care directly impact businesses and consumers: both the family and employershares of employer-based coverage doubledfrom 2001 to 2011.

U.S. healthcarespending is

unsustainable.

The U.S. spends far more on medical care than any other industrialized nation, but ranks 24th among 30 OECD countriesin terms of lifeexpectancy. The Institute of Medicine reported in 2012that the current generation of children and young adults in the United States couldbecome the first generation to experience shorter life spans and fewer health years of life than those of their parents.

Despite highspending, our

healthoutcomes are

poor.

Today,seven in tendeaths in the U.S. are related to preventable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer,and three quartersof our health care dollars are spent treating such diseases. However, only 3 cents of each dollar spent on health care in the U.S.(total public and private) go toward prevention.

Our systememphasizestreatmentinstead of

prevention.

Health inequities related to income and access to coverage exist across demographic lines, but population-based disparities are impossible todeny. For example, as reported by Families USA, African-American women have the highest death ratesfrom heart disease, breast and lungcancer, stroke, and pregnancy among women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds and Hispanics had poorer quality of carethan non-Hispanicwhites for about 40 percent of quality measures, including not receiving screening for cancer or cardiovascular risk factors.

Healthdisparities exist

amongnumerous

populations.

The Affordable Care Act wont solve all of these problems overnight, but its an important step forward. By making health coverage moreaffordable and accessible and thus increasing the number of Americans with coverage, by funding community-based public health and prevention programs, and

by supporting research and tracking on key health measures, the ACA will begin to reduce disparities, improve access to preventive care, improve health outcomes,

and reduce the nations health spending. Learn more (and find this document, with source links) at http://www.apha.org/advocacy/Health+Reform/ACAbasics/.

There are numerous reasons health reform is critically needed in the United States, including:

Why Do We Need the Affordable Care Act?Critical health system problems facing the United States

August 2012

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