A record 46.6 million people in the United States -- nearly 16 percent -- live without medical insurance, the U.S. Census reported on Tuesday.
The national figures for 2005 represented a 2.9 percent increase over 2004, as 1.1 million more residents found themselves living without a health care safety net.
Last year marked the fifth straight increase nationally in the number who lack health benefits. Meanwhile, medical expenses rose three times as fast as wages in 2005.
The new data also showed continuing erosion in the percentage of Americans covered by health insurance. In 2005, an estimated 46.6 million people had no coverage, up 1.3 million since 2004 and increasing the percentage of Americans without health coverage from 15.6 percent of the population to 15.9 percent.
After recent decreases in the numbers of children without health insurance, this year's data found that their numbers grew between 2004 and 2005, rising from 10.8 percent of those under 18 to 11.2 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
This is a portrait of shame. If you care to talk no-spin zone, this is it.
California ranks fifth worst in the nation in terms of the percentage of residents without health insurance, a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows.
With an uninsured rate of 18.8 percent of its population, California trails only Texas (24.6 percent), New Mexico (21.1 percent), Florida (19.6 percent) and Oklahoma (19.5 percent).
Minnesota has the best record, with a rate of 8.7 percent uninsured. The national average is 15.7 percent.
http://www.bizjournals.com/...
By every single yardstick, the American people are camped out on the forward deck of the Titantic and headed into an enormous iceberg.
Job-based health insurance, which is the way most Americans get their coverage, began falling in 2001, even as health insurance premiums rose at double-digit annual rates. Last year, premium growth averaged 9.2%, lower than in previous years, but still three times inflation.
"It's especially worrisome because if we get into another economic downturn, there will be even fewer people with access to employer coverage or fewer who can afford it," says Peter Cunningham, senior fellow with the Center for Studying Health System Change, a non-partisan Washington research group.
Reasons for the decline in job-based coverage are many, including people losing jobs, employers not offering insurance and workers choosing not to enroll.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
The Center for American Progress quantified the enormity of this humanitarian crisis.
45 million uninsured Americans is more than...
* All Americans age 65 and older (35.9 million)2
* All African Americans (37.1 million)3
* All Hispanic or Latino Americans (39.9 million)4
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45 million uninsured Americans is...
* 4 million more than the number of small business employees (41.0 million in 2001)5
* 20 million more than the number of military veterans (25 million)6
* Nearly 12 times more than the number of millionaires (3.8 million) -- although the growth in millionaires outstripped that of the uninsured (14 percent versus 3 percent)7
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45 million uninsured Americans is...8
* More than four times the population of Greece, site of the Summer Olympics (10.6 million)
* 12 million more than the population of Canada (32.2 million)
* Nearly 5 million more than the population of Spain (40.2 million)
* 20 million more than the population of Iraq (24.7 million)
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45 million uninsured Americans is...
* Nearly five times more than the number of Americans living with cancer (9.2 million in 2001)9
* 2.5 times higher than the number of Americans with diabetes (18.2 million in 2002)10
* 7 million more people than those living with HIV throughout the world (38 million)11
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There are...
* Nearly 150 uninsured Americans for each physician in America 12
* Nearly 7,500 uninsured Americans for each hospital in America13
* Over 84,000 uninsured Americans for each Member of Congress
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45 million uninsured Americans is about the same number of Americans living in...14
* West coast states (45.2 million in California, Oregon and Washington)
* Middle America (44.7 million in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming)
* Northeastern states (42.0 million in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont)
http://www.americanprogress.org/...
Today your neighbor loses her insurance, tomorrow it's you or me.
We must demand the same benefits,indeed the same access to affordable healthcare that all elected officials give themselves.