How exactly having such a high national uninsured rate impacts you – your family, your savings, your wallet. We all pay a “hidden health care tax” - a deceptive terminology because its not a tax, but rather the portion of your annual health insurance premiums used to cover uncompensated care rather than you, or your families, health.

Recently, there has been some controversy concerning the number of uninsured Americans. To be honest, there is some basis for this confusion, though some groups and individuals have blown it far out of proportion.

Recently there has been significant public discussion concerning the two main mandates included in all the major health reform bills currently under development by Congress. Both the Individual Mandate and the Employer Mandate have drawn significant criticism from each side of the political spectrum. So, why are criticisms so prevalent? In this brief post I just wanted to review the significance of the Individual Mandate.

As talking heads try to convince you that a government bureaucrat is waiting to stand between you and your doctor, the truth is there's already an insidious barrier between you and your doctor: A health insurance bureaucrat who is only concerned about denying as many claims as they can.

How can we be so concerned about our own health care while we choose to deny others of having an option? These “others” amount to nearly 46 million Americans who do not have health insurance. Of these, 45,000 die each year because of their lack of health insurance.