More Americans Have No Health Insurance

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Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 30 Aug 2006 - 7:00 PST


The number of Americans without health insurance went up 1.3 million from 45.3 million in 2004 to 46.6 million in 2005 - an increase from 15.6% to 15.9% of the country's population, says a new US Census Bureau report. The total number of Americans with health insurance went up from 245.9 million in 2004 to 247.3 million in 2005.

David Johnson, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, US Census Bureau, explained that the increase is mainly due to more employers opting not to offer health insurance. In 2005 59.5% of employees had health insurance sponsored by their employers, compared to 59.8% a year earlier.

Here are some more facts from the report:

2004 - 79.4 million people covered by Medicare and Medicaid
2005 - 80.2 million people covered by Medicare and Medicaid

2004 - 27.3% of people covered by government health insurance
2005 - 27.3% of people covered by government health insurance (no change)

2004 - 10.8% of children not covered by health insurance
2005 - 11.2% of children not covered by health insurance (19% of poor children had no health insurance)

2004 - 11.3% of non-Hispanic whites had no health insurance
2005 - 19.9% of non-Hispanic blacks had no health insurance (no change)

2004 - 13.5 million Hispanics had no health insurance
2005 - 14.1 million Hispanics had no health insurance

2004 - 245.9 million people had health insurance
2005 - 247.3 million people had health insurance

1998 - 16.3% of Americans had no health insurance
2000 - 14.2% of Americans had no health insurance
2005 - 15.9% of Americans had no health insurance

It is surprising that number of uninsured Americans is rising while at the same time the economy has been doing well. In many other developed countries, such as the UK, the percentage of people with no health insurance is zero. The gap in life expectancy and infant mortality between the USA and most other developed nations is widening.

A report yesterday showed that the obesity problem in the USA is still growing. This means more people will be needing medical treatment for such illnesses as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and stroke. If the number of people getting ill grows in parallel with the number of people with no health insurance, the future does not look good for the country's health care system, its citizens and its economy.

Health Insurance Coverage: 2005
US Census Bureau
Click Here To View The Report Online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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