Notable & Quotable

“The reason this is so landmark is that we have found a way, collectively, to get all of our citizens insurance without some new government-mandated takeover or a huge new tax program.”
— Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who recently signed reform legislation that will make health insurance available to every resident of the state through private, market-based programs. The controversial law provides subsidies and sliding scale premiums for poor and low-income residents — funded by redirecting a portion of the $1 billion currently spent by state government on the uninsured — and levies increasing tax penalties on those above a certain income who do not purchase insurance.

Source: The Associated Press

$45 billion The amount unpaid hospital bills, largely for the uninsured, are costing the nation each year, adding 8.5 percent to the cost of health insurance for those who do pay.

Source: The New York Times

62% of providers’ appeals of Medicare reimbursement denials are successful, on average.

Source: HomeCare 2006 Reimbursement Survey

9.7% of men and women aged 16-64 reported a sensory, physical, mental or self-care disability in the United States in 2000.

Source: Cornell University Employment and Disability Institute

40 The number of pounds the average American gains between the ages of 20 and 40.

Source: The American Academy of Family Physicians

8.6 million The number of noninstitutionalized adults with diagnosed chronic bronchitis in the past year.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

$12,800 The median annual earnings for people with a severe disability in 2002, compared with $25,000 for people with no disability and $22,000 for people with a nonsevere disability.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau