Number of people in Wash. without health insurance rises
11:48 AM PDT on Monday, June 8, 2009
By KING5.com Staff
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Monday that the number of people without health insurance has jumped 21 percent to a record 876,000.
Kreidler said this year is Washington state, nearly one in five people between the ages of 19 and 64 will have no health insurance.
"These are not just statistics. They are people you know - family, friends, neighbors, colleagues," he said.
Kreidler said the number does not include people who have jobs but whose employer no longer offers insurance, or those who drop coverage because they can no longer afford their employer's health plan.
"The rising number of uninsured has always been a moral issue, but today it's clearly an economic issue," he said.
To help put this in perspective Kreidler listed the cities whose combined populations equal the new number of uninsured. They are: Tacoma, Spokane, Vancouver, Everett, Bellingham, Wenatchee, Yakima, and Port Angeles.
"Unfortunately, there are no easy answers," said Kreidler.
The state has launched a new Web resource guide.
"But I'll be candid, it's not enough. For many people there are no options. The only meaningful solution is health care reform," said Kreidler.
"I'm hopeful Congress will deliver health care reform," he said. "But I'm not sitting back and waiting. I've been meeting with leaders in our nation's capitol and will continue to do so. Everyone needs to do their part. If we fail to act, we will see one million people living without health insurance in our state."
king5.com |
