45 Million Americans Uninsured
Census Bureau Says 

SUSAN JONES / CNSNews.com 26aug04

[See Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003 - US Census Bureau 26aug04]

The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released a snapshot of income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the United States, on a day when both presidential candidates touted their plans to get more Americans on the insurance rolls.

The Census Bureau report said real median household income remained unchanged at $43,318 between 2002 and 2003; and the nation's official poverty rate ticked up from 12.1 percent in 2002 to 12.5 percent in 2003.

Of particular interest in this election year, the Census Bureau said the number of people with health insurance increased by 1 million to 243.3 million between 2002 and 2003, while the number of people without health insurance increased by 1.4 million to 45 million.

The Census Bureau said the percentage of the nation's population without health insurance coverage grew to 15.6 in 2003 from 15.2 percent in 2002.

Bush, Kerry offer different solutions

The latest statistics on health insurance came on a day when both President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry were touting their plans to insure more Americans.

President Bush, on a campaign stop in New Mexico on Thursday, noted that most Americans get their health insurance from small businesses, which are struggling to provide that benefit.

"To help more Americans get health insurance we must allow small employers to join together to purchase insurance at the discounts that big companies get," he said.

He also called for medical liability reform. "These frivolous lawsuits are running up the cost of health care and they're running good docs out of business," he said. "You see, I don't think you can be pro-patient, pro-doctor and pro-trial lawyer at the same time.

"I think you have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket. I made my choice -- I am for medical liability reform."

Sen. John Edwards, Sen. John Kerry's running mate, made his fortune as a trial lawyer, winning a number of medical malpractice cases.

On Thursday, Sen. John Kerry also stumped for affordable health care, which he has called a "right," not just a privilege. At a town hall meeting in Minnesota, he outlined his plan, which includes saving workers up to $1,000 on their health insurance premiums.

Kerry says the federal government should pick up 75 percent of catastrophic costs, something his campaign says would provide up to $1,000 in annual savings for America's families.

Kerry also recommends tax credits to make health insurance more affordable for low- and middle-income workers; he wants to cut administrative costs by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse; and he supports the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, something the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration both oppose.

Kerry says he would push Congress to pass a "real" patients' bill of rights - "one that allows Americans to hold HMOs accountable for decisions that harm patients by denying necessary medical care."

And Kerry says he supports a reduction in medical malpractice premiums. "John Kerry and John Edwards oppose punitive damages unless intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless indifference to life can be established," his campaign says. They also say they support an end to "frivolous" lawsuits clogging the health care system.

'Solutions already available'

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the solution to the health insurance problem already is in the pipeline:

"Today's news that the number of uninsured Americans totaled 45 million in 2003 is a tragedy in that real solutions already exist," said Kate Sullivan Hare, the Chamber's executive director of health policy, in a press release.

"More can -- and should be -- done to make health coverage affordable for employers and workers," Sullivan Hare said.

The Chamber said the best way to make health coverage more available and affordable is to allow pooled-purchasing for small businesses - what President Bush recommends -- along with "equitable tax treatment" for individuals who purchase their own health coverage; and tax credits targeted to people with modest incomes.

The Chamber said it opposes efforts to add new mandates and expand employers' liability for the health coverage they voluntarily provide to their workforce.

"Small businesses have been hit particularly hard by successive years of double-digit increases in health care costs," Sullivan Hare said.

"Congress and the administration must create more employer options for health plans and give those who purchase coverage on their own the same tax advantages as those who receive it through their jobs."

source: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=%5CNation%5Carchive%5C200408%5CNAT20040826d.html 26aug04

Census Reports Rise in Uninsured Americans

AMANDA GARDNER / HealthDay 26aug04

THURSDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDayNews) -- The number of people in the United States without health insurance rose to 45 million last year, the government reported Thursday, and new statistics show that the increase outpaced that for people getting coverage.

A U.S. Census Bureau report found that 1 million more people were covered in 2003 than in 2002, but "the number of people without health insurance coverage rose by 1.4 million over that same period," said Daniel H. Weinberg, the bureau's chief of housing and household economic statistics.

Figuring heavily into the statistics was another finding in the report that the poverty rate also rose between 2002 and 2003.

"The net result was that 15.6 percent of the population, or 45 million people, were without health insurance coverage in 2003, up from 15.2 percent in 2002," Weinberg said at a news conference.

The number of people with health coverage increased from 242.4 million in 2002 to 243.3 million in 2003.

Between 1987 and 1998, the uninsured rate either increased or was unchanged. "After peaking at 16.3 percent in 1998, the rate dropped for two years in a row to 14.2 percent in 2000, before the latest period of annual increases, culminating in a rate of 15.6 percent for 2003," Weinberg said.

The percentage of children without health insurance remained unchanged at 11.4 percent.

This data, the most recent available, comes from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, which is one of the bureau's longest-running reviews. The survey has a sample size of about 100,000 addresses, with more than 50 questions on income. The estimates "are the best available at the national level," said Census Bureau director Charles Louis Kincannon.

"We should all be concerned by the data released today," Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis said in a statement. "These disturbing findings highlight the need for new policies to expand coverage and make it more affordable for American families, and they are just the latest data to highlight that need."

The news conference, which included data from the American Community Survey, also showed an increase in the nation's official poverty rate, from 12.1 percent in 2002 to 12.5 percent in 2003. The real median household income stayed the same, at $43,318.

The percentage of people receiving coverage from their employers dropped from 61.3 percent in 2002 to 60.4 percent in 2003. This explains the overall decline in total private health insurance coverage, from 69.6 percent in 2002 to 68.6 percent in 2003.

This decline, however, was "partially offset by increases in government coverage," Weinberg said. During the same period, Medicare coverage increased 0.2 percent, to 13.7 percent, while Medicaid coverage rose 0.7 percent, to 12.4 percent. Overall, the percentage of people covered by government health insurance programs increased from 25.7 percent in 2003 to 26.6 percent.

Similarly, the stable rate of children without health insurance was because "a decline in the coverage of children by employment-based plans was offset by an increase in their coverage by Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program," Weinberg said.

Children in poverty were more likely to be uninsured: 19.2 percent in 2003, compared to 11.4 percent of all children. Children aged 12 to 17 were more likely to lack insurance than those under the age of 12 (12.7 percent vs. 10.6 percent).

There were also some changes in the racial and ethnic distribution of health coverage. While the uninsured rate for blacks (about 19.5 percent) and Asians (about 18.7 percent) did not change, the percent of non-Hispanic whites without coverage increased from 10.7 percent to 11.1 percent. "Hispanics have the highest rate of people without health insurance in 2003 of any group distinguished by race or Hispanic origin -- 32.7 percent, which is unchanged from 2002," Weinberg said.

At 21 percent, Hispanic children were more likely to be uninsured than non-Hispanic white, black, or Asian children.

More than a quarter (27.5 percent) of American Indians and Alaska natives lacked health coverage, the second highest rate after Hispanics. This rate had not changed from the year before.

More than a third (34.5 percent) of foreign-born individuals lacked health insurance, two and a half times that of the native-born population (13 percent) in 2003.

The only region to show an increase in the rate of uninsured individuals in 2003 was the South, up from 17.5 percent in 2002 to 18 percent in 2003.

source: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/08/26/hscout520885.html 26aug04