· 30% of Americans have had a gap in health insurance coverage lasting at least a month over the last three years.

· 10.8 million of the 43.4 million uninsured in 1997 were under age 18.

· The percentage of Americans getting coverage through their jobs declined from 69.2% in 1987 to 64.2% in 1997.

· Four out of five uninsured Americans in 1997 were employed full time or lived in a family with a full-time worker.

· In 1997, 42% of uninsured people lived in households with an annual income of $25,000; 34% lived in households with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000 and 24% lived in households with incomes of about $50,000.

· About half (46%) of businesses with fewer than 200 workers did not offer health insurance in 1998; 98% of companies with more than 200 employees did offer health insurance, but only 83% of eligible employees took it.

· Government provides health insurance to one third (34.2%) of the U.S. population (Medicare, Medicaid, government worker coverage, and military coverage); 43% of Americans have coverage through a private employer; 7% buy health insurance on their own and 16% are uninsured. (Data for 1997)