One would imagine that living in the industrialized nation of the United States would almost guarantee affordable health care at a standard far above the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

There are 29 other countries with a higher life expectancy than Americans, and there are 38 who have lower rates of infant mortality.

The 2008 election has brought the topic of "affordable health care" and "affordable health insurance" to the forefront and, along with it, a slew of misconceptions. So, what is true and what is false? The purpose of the following article is to dispel some of these myths and misconceptions and provide information to make a muddy topic a bit clearer.