Join the campaign to change America

The current health care system is broken. Today, 45 million Americans are uninsured, and tens of millions more remain at risk of losing coverage. Health care is needlessly expensive, burdening families and businesses without delivering the high-quality care that is needed. Health care costs have grown faster than wages for almost 50 years. [Census Bureau, 2006; KFF, 2006]

Check out these facts:

• An estimated 18,000 uninsured people die every year because they lack access to care, according to the Institute of Medicine. [Institute of Medicine, 2002]
• Medical expenses cause half of U.S. bankruptcies, even though two-thirds of bankruptcy filers had health insurance. [Warren, et al., 2005]
• Over the past five years, families have seen premiums grow by 90 percent while benefits have been cut. [Demos, 2007]
• The U.S. spends more then twice as much per person on health care as other developed countries—a total of $2.2 trillion a year—and has some of the best doctors in the world, but it ranks near the bottom in life expectancy, infant mortality and, over all performance. [OECD, 2005]
• Better, more consistent performance could save 100,000 to 150,000 lives and $50 billion to $100 billion a year, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission on High Performance Health System [Commonwealth Fund, 2006]

John Edwards has a bold plan to transform America's health care system and provide universal health care for every man, woman and child in America.

Under the Edwards Plan:

• Families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price.
• Families with insurance will pay less and get more security and choices.
• Businesses and other employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers.

The Edwards Plan achieves universal coverage by:

• Requiring businesses and other employers to either cover their employees or help finance their health insurance.
• Making insurance affordable by creating new tax credits, expanding Medicaid and SCHIP, reforming insurance laws, and taking innovative steps to contain health care costs.
• Creating regional "Health Care Markets" to let every American share the bargaining power to purchase an affordable, high-quality health plan, increase choices among insurance plans, including the choice of a public plan, and cut costs for businesses offering insurance.
• Once these steps have been taken, requiring all American residents to get insurance.

Edwards' plan would save an average family $2,000 to $2,500 a year and eliminate at least $130 billion a year in wasteful health care spending.

To read more click here.

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