The uninsured: Americans at risk.(View point: the consumers union perspective)

What if your child risked dying from asthma because you couldn't afford the doctor visits and medicines that could prevent a life-threatening attack? What ff you had to choose between losing your house and paying up front for your spouse's cancer treatments? What ff you died from a heart attack because you were afraid that an unnecessary trip to the emergency room would leave you with a staggering bill you couldn't pay?

Our nation's failure to ensure that everyone has affordable health care has made such heartbreaking choices commonplace among the uninsured, who face devastating financial burdens when serious Illness strikes.

Nearly 44 million Americans were uninsured during 2002, the Census Bureau estimates--almost a 6 percent increase over 2001. That's more than 15 percent of the population.

And those numbers tell only part of the story. Millions more Americans are uninsured for short time periods or have skimpy coverage with low benefit limits or high deductibles. Lifetime benefit limits of $1 million or less are quickly exhausted when catastrophic illness or injury occurs. Minority-group members, young adults, and people with modest incomes are much more likely to be uninsured than others. The National Academies' Institute of Medicine has reported that lack of insurance often means people simply do not get care for serious medical conditions. Uninsured women with breast cancer, for example, are 30 to 50 percent more likely to die from it than are insured women.

Today, proposals before Congress would close little gaps in the insurance void. But there is a lack of vision and leadership when it comes to forging a comprehensive solution to make health care affordable for everyone. This year's congressional budget resolution sets aside $50 billion over 10 years to reduce the number of uninsured--barely one-tenth of what ...