• A Gallup poll recently discovered that healthcare rates behind only Iraq and immigration when Americans name the top problem facing the country.
• The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) reports that 46 million people under the age of 65 had no medical coverage in 2005, up 16% since 2000.
• Almost half of Hispanics and blacks reported that they didn't have enough money to pay for medical expenses in the past year.
• The survey shows that 32% of Americans were unable to pay for needed healthcare at times during the past year.
  • In 1976, only 15% of Americans had difficulty paying for healthcare.
• Twenty-eight percent have said there were times when they were unable to pay for care in the 2004 and 2005 surveys.
• EBRI reports that 15% of uninsured workers were eligible for health benefits in 2002.
  • Two-thirds of such workers didn't participate in their employers' health plan because of the cost.
• Forty-eight percent of Hispanics, 45% of blacks, and 26% of non-Hispanic whites told Gallup there were times in the past year when they couldn't afford to pay for healthcare.
• In the June Gallup Poll, 40% of adults with a high-school education or less say there were times in the past year when they didn't have enough money to pay for healthcare, compared with 19% of adults with a bachelor's degree only.
  • Also, 54% of American adults earning less than $20,000 annually say they struggled to pay for their medical costs, compared with 12% of adults earning at least $75,000

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