More Americans Have Health Insurance Than Ever Before, Group Says
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
August 27, 2004
(CNSNews.com) - More Americans have health insurance now than at any time in recent history, says a think tank that advocates private solutions to public policy problems.
"While it is true that the number of uninsured has grown, it is equally true that the number of people with insurance has grown steadily for the last 15 years," said Devon Herrick, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis. "Despite recent economic hard times, there has never been this many people with health insurance."
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The NCPA analysis found that households earning $50,000 a year or more account for about 90 percent of the increase in the number of uninsured over the past 10 years. And almost two-thirds of that has occurred among households earning more than $75,000 per year.
The NCPA was reacting to a Census Bureau report released Thursday, which 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.
But the NCPA says the rise in both the number of people with and without health insurance is explained by growth in the overall population.
While the exact number of people without health insurance has grown, the percent of the population without health insurance has remained in the 15-percent range.
According to an NCPA analysis of the just-released Census report:
-- The number of people with health insurance increased by 1 million people in 2003, to 243.3 million, or 84.4 percent of the population.
-- The number of people without health insurance grew by 1.4 million, or 15.6 percent of the population.
-- The proportion of children who were uninsured did not change, remaining at 11.4 percent of all children, or 8.4 million in 2003.
According to NCPA estimates, a growing problem is the increasing number of families with incomes above $50,000 who are becoming uninsured.
Since 1993, the number of uninsured in households with annual incomes above $75,000 increased by almost 128 percent. By contrast, the number of uninsured with annual incomes below $25,000 fell by an estimated 15 percent.
"Being uninsured in America is often a matter of choice," said Herrick. "Most uninsured people either can afford health insurance or qualify for government-sponsored health care programs; they just choose not to enroll." |
