Over 45 Million Americans Now Lack Health Insurance

New government report released indicates 8% of children without coverage

On Dec. 16, the Division of Health Interview Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on the number of Americans who were without health insurance this year.

The report indicated that between January and June 2009, 45.4 million Americans of all ages  (15.1 % of the population) had no health insurance, while 58.4 million (19.4 percent) people of all ages had been uninsured for at least part of the year prior to the interview, and 31.9 million (10.6 percent) had been uninsured for more than a year at the time of interview.

The findings are concluded from data analyses of almost 32,700 respondents. NHIS data, collected since 1957, is widely used to monitor health trends.

Among the other results from January to June:

• At the time of interview, 12.3 percent of poor children and 11.6 percent of near-poor children didn't have insurance.
• The percentage of near-poor children who lacked insurance at the time of interview decreased from 15.6 percent in 2008 to 11.6 percent in the first six months of 2009.
• The percentage of children under age 18 without insurance at the time of interview was 8.2 percent.
• At the time of interview, 8.4 percent of poor children and 35.1 percent of near-poor children were covered by private health insurance. Between 2008 and the first six months of 2009, there was no significant change in private coverage for poor, near-poor and not-poor children.
• The percentage of near-poor adults younger than 65 who didn't have insurance at the time of interview increased from 2008 to the first half of 2009.
• Among adults up to 64 years old, 60.6 percent of those who were unemployed had been uninsured for at least part of the past year, and 21.8 percent of those who had jobs had gone without insurance. Also, 32.9 percent of unemployed adults and 13.3 percent of employed adults in this age group had been without insurance for more than one year.
• Among those under age 65 with private health insurance, 22.7 percent were enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP), including 6.4 percent who were enrolled in a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP).
• Nearly 50 percent of those with a private plan obtained by means other than through an employer were in a HDHP, and about 20 percent of those with a private plan were in a family with a flexible spending account (FSA) for medical expenses.
• Lack of health insurance coverage was highest in the South and West.
• At the time of interview, 80.9 percent of poor children and 57.8 percent of near-poor children were covered by a public health plan.
• The increase in public coverage for near-poor children increased from 53.4 percent in 2008 to 57.8 percent in the first six months of 2009. This was not a significant increase, according to researchers.

It remains to be seen whether the President can get some form of a plan through to curb this trend.  While the President has pushed congressional leaders hard to have a proposal ready this year, opposition from Republicans, Democrats and the growing Tea Party has been growing firmly as well.

While few people debate that some type of correction to our health care system is needed, there is growing concern about the long term financial implications that would be imposed on Americans with the current proposals. 

Also a concern is the ability of government to manage such a massive undertaking.  

Considering the debacle that has become the Medicare & Medicaid programs and the Social Security programs, many wonder why the government doesn't first work on fixing the current programs, before undertaking a monumental project such as the one the President feels he needs to address.