The 2006 Health Confidence Survey, released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute under the headline, "Dissatisfaction with Health Care System Doubles Since 1998," helps explain why health care is consistently ranked as one of this country's key issues.

A record percentage in the survey, 52% of Americans, are unhappy with the cost of health care. That breaks down to 6 out of ten Americans rank the U.S. health system as poor or fair. That represents a sharp increase in the number of dissatisfied health care consumers, shich includes the insured as well as the uninsured.

Survey results indicate that of the average family surveyed, 36% are facing higher medical costs, 53% contribute less to their retirement plans and save less in general, and 28% have trouble paying for basic necessities. In addition, 20% of those surveyed increased their credit card debt or borrowed money to pay the ever increasing health care bills, while others have chosen to delay getting medical care altogether (44%) or filling necessary prescriptions (22%).

The EBRI survey points out both that the problems with U.S. health care are rapidly geting worse and that solutions are needed to address the issues of excessive cost and the consequential burden of tolerating ill health that is facing the insured as well as the uninsured.

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Sheryl M. Jones
Staff Writer