NEWS: AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE SKYROCKETS
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More in US living without health insurance- report
By Lisa Richwine
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The ranks of Americans without health insurance grew by an estimated 2.4 million in 2002, the second consecutive yearly increase, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.
About 15.2 percent of the population, or 43.6 million people, lacked medical coverage for the entire year, the Census Bureau said in a report that prompted new calls for lawmakers and President George W. Bush to address the problem. In 2001, 14.6 percent lacked health coverage.
Last year's drop was attributed largely to fewer people receiving insurance from employers. The percentage of those covered by employment-based health insurance slid to 61.3 percent in 2002 from 62.6 percent in 2001, the report said.
Some of the uninsured had lost their jobs as the economy struggled through a recession, according to policy experts.
In other cases, employers dropped health coverage as premiums rose, or increased employees' portion of the cost to the point that some workers could not afford to pay.
"Clearly employers are struggling to hang on to their coverage," said Kate Sullivan, director of health care policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Government insurance programs such as Medicaid provided a cushion. About 25.7 percent of people were covered by the government program in 2002, up from 25.3 percent in 2001.
"Things could have been substantially worse" without the government assistance, said Leighton Ku, a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The new figures should spur politicians to quickly agree on ways to help more people obtain medical coverage, said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a health advocacy group.
"The failure to do so may have significant repercussions in the 2004 elections," Pollack said.
Lawmakers have philosophical differences over the best way to help the uninsured. Republicans tend to favor market-oriented solutions such as tax credits. Democrats usually support a larger government role in covering the uninsured.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Congress should pass the administration's plans, which include tax credits to help make private insurance more affordable, expansion of the government's tax-free Medical Savings Accounts program and more funding for state health insurance for children.
"Congress must give us more tools to provide more care to more families," Thompson said in a prepared statement. |
