89% of Americans who want to buy health insurance can't

Out of work? No health insurance? Buy your own. Not going to happen. Lots of luck.

According to the Commonwealth Fund's Biennial Health Insurance survey done in 2005, 89% of Americans between the ages of 19 and 64 who thought about or tried to buy health insurance in the previous three years were unsuccessful.

Insurance in the individual market is often impossible to obtain or unaffordable. Nearly nine of 10 people who explored obtaining coverage through the individual market never bought a plan, citing difficulties finding affordable coverage or being turned down.

I heard on Meet The Press this morning, October 1, 2006, that the United States is spending 2 Billion dollars a week in Iraq. That's 8 Billion dollars per month. You'd think the United States could figure out a way to help its citizens get health care.

Link: Americans Squeezed by Health Care Costs.