More Affordable and Accessible Health Care Defined

LIE
President Bush is making [healthcare] more affordable and accessible to all Americans.

--Vice-President Cheney at the Republican National Convention

source: 2004 Republican National Convention


TRUTH
Employer-sponsored health plan premiums rose 11.2% in 2004 according to a Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust survey, more than five times the national increase in wages, which rose 2.2% from the spring of 2003 to spring 2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Since 2001 the proportion of employers offering health benefits decreased 7.4% and there are 5 million fewer jobs offering health benefits.

The average employee's share of family coverage has risen by more than $1,000 since 2000, an increase of 59%.

source: Daily Health Policy Report - Kaisernetwork.org#25690#25690