•The United States spends by far the most on health care per person – more than twice as much as Europe, Canada and Japan – which all have some version of national health insurance. Yet we are near the bottom in nearly every measure of health.

•World Health Organization (WHO) ranks the US 72^nd in overall health level. Life expectancy in the US is shorter than 27 other countries, and the infant mortality rate ties countries like Malta and Slovakia, ahead of only Latvia among industrialized nations.

•About 31 cents of each dollar we spend on health care in the US goes to administration and paper-shuffling, compared to only 16 cents in Canada.

•Our pharmaceutical industry averages a 17% profit margin, compared to three percent for all other businesses. Many health care CEOs make million-dollar salaries.

• Health care costs continue to rise at the fastest rate in history. In 2002, (the latest year with available data) total national health spending rose nearly 7% – two times the rate of inflation. Total spending was $2 trillion, or $6,700 per person.

•US health care spending is expected to double, to more than $4 trillion a year, by 2017, according to the federal government. It will account for one of every $5 the nation spends.

•Despite nearly 47 million Americans uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, even though those countries provide health care to all their citizens.

•Between 1987 and 2002, private health insurance spending increased nearly 60 percent per person.

•Health care hyperinflation is a major economic burden for Wisconsin’s working families. According to Families USA, 1.2 million Wisconsinites are in families paying over 10% of their income for health care. Over 300,000 are in families paying over 25% of income for health care.

•Wisconsin health insurance costs are 23% above the national average, according to the Mercer Health & Benefits employer survey.

•In 1979, 73% of Wisconsin’s private-sector workers had health insurance through their jobs. This dropped to 57% by 2004.

•Health insurance premiums for Wisconsin employers have risen 10% or more, on average, each year for the past seven – almost doubling since 2000.

•Nearly 47 million Americans – 16% of the population – are without health insurance. The number of uninsured has increased by almost 7 million since 2000.

•Over eight in ten uninsured come from working families. In Wisconsin, over 93% of uninsured children have one working parent.

•An estimated 9.4% of Wisconsin citizens have no health insurance. Tens of thousands more have inadequate insurance.

•According to a Families USA report, Dying for Coverage, five Wisconsin residents die each week because they lack health insurance.

•Lack of health insurance is the third leading cause of death among the near elderly (55-64), following heart disease and cancer.

•The cost of treating patients with little or no health insurance is passed on to employers and taxpayers. It is estimated that $35 billion in uncompensated care is provided by hospitals to uninsured patients each year.

•To cover health costs, 53% of Americans have had to decrease contributions to savings, 37% have difficulty paying other bills, 36% have decreased contributions to retirement plans, and 18% have difficulty paying for basic necessities like food, heat and housing.

•A Harvard University study found that 50% of all personal bankruptcy filings were at least partially due to medical expenses.

•Businesses hire fewer people or shift jobs overseas to avoid the rising costs of providing health benefits.

•Citizens lose opportunities to change jobs, start a business, care for family members, or farm full-time because they depend on a current employer for health insurance.