In 2007, 45 million nonelderly people in the United States lacked health coverage
More than eight in ten uninsured people (81%) come from working families
About two-thirds of the nonelderly uninsured are from low-income families (income below 200% of poverty, about $42,400 for a family of 4 in 2007)
More than one in three people (35%) living in poverty are uninsured, compared with one in twenty people (5%) with family incomes at or above four times the poverty level
Adults age 19-54 make up the majority (71%) of the nonelderly uninsured, but nearly 9 million children lacked health coverage in 2007
Since 2000 the number of nonelderly uninsured has grown by 8 million—with the only decline in the number of uninsured occurring in 2007, largely driven by an increase in public coverage
Uninsured adults are five times as likely as the privately insured to lack a usual source of care (54% vs. 10%) and four times as likely to postpone care due to cost (26% vs. 6%)
Fully half of the uninsured report paying for health care and health insurance is a serious problem
http://www.kff.org/uninsured/h08_7813.cfm
Most Americans get health insurance through their jobs; however, employers are not required to offer coverage and since 2000 the percentage of firms that offer coverage has declined. This decline has been driven, in part, by increasing health care premiums. The average cost for a family premium in
2008 was
$12,680, nearly double what it cost in 2000. Poor and near poor workers are less likely to be offered insurance by their employers, but even when offered coverage, they are at greater risk of losing that coverage.<A id=front2 name=front2>
2
Bookmarks