The Uninsured
As insurance premiums rise and more employers drop coverage, an increasing number of Americans are living without health insurance. Nearly 90 million people—more than one in three non-elderly Americans—went without health coverage for all or part of 2006-2007. And four out of five of those individuals were in working families.
Why does insurance matter? People without insurance are more likely to go without preventive care, to delay or forgo medical care, and to die prematurely. When sick, the uninsured may turn to emergency rooms for care, where oftentimes they are charged more for services than insured patients. And when uninsured patients can’t afford their medical bills, the cost of this care is passed on to the insured in the form of higher premiums.
This section of our Web site explores who is uninsured and how we can increase coverage.
The Latest
From Families USA:
Health Coverage in Communities of Color: Talking about the New Census Numbers takes a closer look at the 2007 uninsured data. The number of uninsured was considerably higher in 2007 than it was in 2000, and communities of color continue to bear the brunt of this crisis. This fact sheet looks at who is uninsured, where people get their health insurance, and why public programs are vital to communities of color. (September 2008)
Empty Promise: Searching for Health Insurance in an Unfair Market discusses how the individual health insurance market differs from the employer market and examines what happens to consumers who seek coverage in the individual market. Problems in the individual market include policies that don't provide quality coverage; policies that are very expensive or that cost more than advertised; and the fact that many applicants cannot obtain a policy at any price. (August 2008)
Still Too Many Uninsured Children examines the new Census Bureau data about children's health coverage in 2007. It describes the importance of Medicaid and CHIP for children's health coverage, how the President's harmful policies are hurting children, and what Congress and the next President should do to help. (August 2008)
From the Center for Studying Health System Change:
Trade-Offs Getting Tougher: Problems Paying Medical Bills Increase for U.S. Families, 2003-2007 estimates that 14 million more people had problems paying medical bills in 2007 compared to 2003. Among the non-elderly insured and uninsured, 2.2 million were in families that filed for bankruptcy as a result of medical debt, while a much larger number reported other financial consequences, such as difficulties paying for necessities or having to borrow money. (September 2008)
From the Commonwealth Fund:
Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance Is Burdening Working Families discusses the insurance status of adults under age 65 and the implications for family finances and access to health care. It reports that health coverage has deteriorated over the past six years, with declines in coverage most severe for moderate-income families. Nearly two-thirds of adults had medical bill problems or debt, went without needed care because of cost, or were uninsured. (August 2008)
Seeing Red: The Growing Burden of Medical Bills and Debt Faced by U.S. Families reports that the proportion of working-age Americans who struggled to pay medical bills and accumulated medical debt climbed from 34 percent to 41 percent between 2005 and 2007. Families with low or moderate incomes were particularly hard hit, as were the uninsured and adults who had gaps in health coverage. Those experiencing financial hardship due to medical debt reported that they used up all their savings, incurred large credit card debt, or were unable to pay for basic necessities. (August 2008)
From the Employee Benefit Research Institute:
Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2008 Current Population Survey examines the factors that affect whether an individual has health insurance and the sources of that coverage. According to the report, the percentage of U.S. residents younger than age 65 who had health coverage through their employer remained at 62.2 percent between 2006 and 2007, but this year’s rise in unemployment and food and gasoline prices suggest a future decline in the number of workers who have or are able to afford employer-based health insurance. (September 2008)
From the George Washington University Medical Center:
Uninsured and Medicaid Patients’ Access to Preventive Care: Comparison of Health Centers and Other Primary Care Providers examines the role of community health centers (CHCs) in reducing disparities in access to preventive health care for medically vulnerable and high-risk populations. The analysis finds that, despite having a more vulnerable patient mix, CHCs outperform other primary care providers in the use of preventive care for both Medicaid and uninsured patients by as much as 22 percent. (August 2008)
From the Pew Hispanic Center:
Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information and Knowledge reports that about 27 percent of Hispanic adults in the U.S. do not have regular health care providers, although many of those adults have health insurance and speak English. The survey finds that among Hispanic adults, the groups least likely to have a usual health care provider are men, the young, the less educated, and those without health insurance. (August 2008)
From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:
A Needed Lifeline: Chronically Ill Children and Public Health Insurance Coverage provides a state-by-state analysis of children’s access to health care and examines whether children who have public or private coverage obtain health care differently than children who are uninsured. The data demonstrate the strength of CHIP and Medicaid as safety nets for kids, but more than 9 million children remain uninsured. (August 2008)
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