A review of data on the health sector of the United States.

This report presents data on the state of U.S. health care in mid-2000. It provides information on the number of uninsured and underinsured (with special attention to health coverage among Hispanics and drug coverage among seniors); the increasing costs of health care; inequalities in the socioeconomic, health, and medical spheres; and the role of corporate money in health care. Recent data are presented on the pharmaceutical industry (with special notes on drug industry lobbying, drug safety, the use of publicly funded research to boost industry profits, and drug marketing to physicians) and the hospital and nursing home industries (including Medicare HMOs). The author also summarizes the health proposals of the presidential candidates, recent health care legislation, and some health system changes in Canada.