This is a complicated question to answer. More than 85 million Americans get health insurance through the government, including Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' benefits, and the military (both active duty and retirees). Currently, more than 45 million Americans have no health insurance.

Most Americans with health insurance get it from their employer and more than 26.5 million Americans are covered by individual plans that have been bought directly from an insurance company.

In a report (Individual Health Insurance 2009: A Comprehensive Survey of Premiums,Availability, and Benefits) made public in October 2009, America's Health Insurance Plans (a trade group representing health plans) presented some information that gives a sense of what a health insurance policy costs when purchased by an individual.

• On average, the annual premium was $2,985 for a single person and $6,328 for a family.

• The annual premium differed from state to state. For example, the premium for a family health plan in New York was $13,296, while a similar plan in Iowa was $5609.

• The annual premiums for health plans were also different depending if the annual deductible was high or low. For example, family plans with no deductible had an average premium of $12686 each year, while plans with an annual deductible of $10,000 had an average premium of $5380 each year.