Fighting the high cost of health care: both insurers and consumers have an interest in widely available, low-cost generic drugs. The big pharmaceutical companies have stymied competition from makers of generic alternatives. Trial lawyers have joined forces with insurers to stop them.

Trial, October, 2007 by Meltzer, Joseph H.; Murphy, Casandra A.; Ziegler, Terence S.

According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 85 percent of Americans have some type of health insurance. (1) Some people get coverage through government-subsidized programs, but most have employer-provided or independently purchased private insurance.

That most insurance comes from private companies should be no surprise--it's a fact that grows out of this country's failure to adopt a comprehensive national health insurance program. Accordingly, private insurers play a vital role, partly because of the sheer number of people who rely on them, and partly because of skyrocketing health care costs, which can be financially devastating to a family when a loved one becomes seriously ill.

Because they shoulder a significant financial load,...

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