When the Census Bureau released its annual report earlier this year on poverty, income, and health insurance, that report, based on 2008 figures, pegged the number of Americans without health insurance coverage at 46.3 million, up from 45.7 million in 2007. Based on those figures, it was predicted that the U.S. will approach the 50 million mark in 2010. Sadly, the latest figures out of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) support that estimate. Just another reason that the Affordable Care Act is a necessity.
A new report released y by the CDC found that an estimated 49.9 million Americans aged 18-64 went at least part of the last twelve months with no health care insurance, up 4 million from the previous Census Bureau figures. The report was derived from an analysis of more than four years of the National Health Interview Survey.
This increasing problem is hitting not only those living in poverty, but middleincome families as well and is impacting chronic illnesses. Adults (18-64) who suffer from a chronic illness and had even a short gap in health insurance coverage were three times as likely to skip medical care because of cost compared to those continuously insured. It is also hitting the disabled population. Almost 1 in every 4 adults in this age group having a disability, and 30% of those had no health insurance in the past twelve months. The CDC stated that 'delays in health care can lead to poorer health and higher medical costs over time.'
According to a June 16, 2010 CDC report, the largest problem for Americans who lacked insurance for part of the year correlated with the lack of employment, as 60.6 percent of unemployed adults (ages 18 to 64) experienced a lack of health coverage during that time as compared to only 21.8 percent of employed adults. And of the people uninsured for more than a year, 32.9 percent of them were unemployed, while only 13.3 percent of them were employed. With the U.S. financial crisis rendering many people unemployed or underemployed, health insurance has become one of the casualties.
Not surprisingly, the largest uninsured group was aged 18-24, those out of high school, who were not enrolled or under-enrolled in college (and thereby unable to take advantage of their parent's health insurance), unemployed, or working in jobs that do not offer health care coverage. Typically wages earned in this demographic cannot be stretched to buy an individual health insurance policy.
