New figures on uninsured -- but just how accurate are they?
The U.S. Census just released some surprising figures on the number of Americans without health insurance. The agency says the percentage of the uninsured did not grow between 2007 and 2008 -- holding steady at 15.4 percent. Meanwhile, the number of uninsured people rose slightly 45.7 million to 46.3 million.
During a monster recession, with rising unemployment and so many employers cutting health insurance to their workers -- can those figures be right?
Just how many Americans lack insurance has been a tough figure to pin down. In his pitch to reform the health care system and expand coverage to every American, President Obama often says there are 47 million people among the ranks of the uninsured. But other estimates from government agencies and interest groups vary widely from tens of millions of people -- in one way or another.
A closer look at the Census figures, however, sheds some light on what might be going on. For one, the number of adults without health insurance increased from 19.6 percent to 20.3 percent between 2007 and 2008, while the number of uninsured children decreased substantially, perhaps offsetting the adult numbers.
Drill down a bit more and it's clear that more Americans appear to be losing their employer-sponsored insurance while at the same time more people are getting coverage from the government -- from Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
The percentage of people covered by their employers decreased to 58.5 percent in 2008, from 59.3 percent in 2007. Menwhile, 29 percent of Americans were covered by government programs, up from 27.8 percent in 2007.
It's important to point out that number of uninsured people is clearly an estimate and the census figures are a snapshot in time. They don't capture the many people who lost their jobs later in the year and were missed by counters who compiled the data early in 2008.
Reform advocates are already seizing on the figures as further evidence that lawmakers should pass legislation in a hurry.
“Disturbingly, the uninsured numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau represent the tip of the problem," said the American Public Health Association in a press release. "There are another 25 million underinsured people who also receive inadequate access to care and are at risk of many of the same outcomes as those with no coverage at all."
“The new Census Bureau report should give Congress an even greater sense of urgency to enact high-quality, affordable health coverage and care for all Americans this year,” said the advocacy group Families USA in a statement.
Baltimore Sun photo
Comments
INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE THE PROBLEM, THEY HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH HEALTH CARE. THEY SHOULD BE REMOVED.
Posted by: ROBERT | September 16, 2009 1:01 AM
Insurance companies are private for-profit businesses that make money in a calculated risk fashion - like any business. People who don't think are the problem. I wonder how many of the 47 million uninsured drive nice cars, have satellite dishes, cable TV, eat out regularly, go on vacations, and consciously ignore the known health risks all around us. If an individual either chooses to put cable TV, a car they can't afford, or fashionable clothing ahead of their own health care - then it's not rest of the tax-payer's responsibility to pay for their health care. We already pay enough to make up for the idiots. Money problems aren't fixed by money.
Posted by: Tanner | September 17, 2009 9:39 PM
Focusing on the percentage of the total population is misleading.
From the total (300M?) you need to first deduct EVERYONE who presently has coverage through VA and Medicare and Medicaid and S-Chip etc who face no threat of losing coverage and have no ambiguity as regards what coverage they actually do have.
That 45M figure applied against this much more realistic total (150M?) finds that out uninsured is closer to a FULL THIRD of Americans.
Add in the UNDER insured and the tenuously insured... and the might lose their job next week and become uninsured... and you are closer to reality and a conversation that may get us somewhere.
Posted by: MrRational | September 18, 2009 1:45 PM
Stunning, how running a nasty mouth makes lower IQ people feel superior.
I do not have insurance because I cannot afford it. I keep a small roof over my head (as well as the heads of several extended family members who've had an even worse time financially than I); drive a 9 year-old car; have neither satellite nor cable; eat out less than once a month; have not been on a vacation in 5 years and buy my clothes at thrift shops. I worry all of the time about health risks. Those I know who are also without health insurance - and most of us just don't talk about it, lest we have to listen to stupidity from know-it-all backsides - are also living close to the bone.
Posted by: Eve | September 18, 2009 3:17 PM