The costs of health care are burying American families

Unpaid medical bills are piling up on kitchen tables all over America. In addition to the rising costs of food, gas and housing, more and more working families are becoming overwhelmed by skyrocketing health care costs.

Since 2001, average premiums for family health insurance coverage have risen 78 percent and now stand at more than $12,000 annually, not including out-ofpocket costs which average an additional $3,000. The soaring cost of health coverage makes seeing a doctor and getting necessary care unaffordable and even impossible for millions of children and working families. One recent study found that half of all American families filing for bankruptcy cited medical …