Nearly 15 % of US population without any form of health insurance coverage.

[uscitizen]

CDC: Almost 15 Percent of U.S. Population Without Health Insurance

Monday, June 25, 2007

By Miranda Hitti



In the U.S., 43.6 million people of all ages — almost 15 percent of the population — lacked health insurance in 2006, the CDC reported Monday.

That figure is not significantly different from the CDC's 2005 overall estimated percentage of people without health insurance. But the CDC notes a slight increase in the percentage of uninsured people of working age.

In 2006, the U.S. had 36.5 million people aged 18-64 with no health insurance. That's 19.8 percent of people in that age group, up from 18.9 percent in 2005.

Data came from interviews with people in nearly 100,000 homes nationwide. Uninsured people were those without private, government, or military health insurance at the time of the interview.

Health Insurance Statistics

Hispanics, young adults, and men were particularly likely to report no health insurance.

Among Hispanics, 32 percent lacked health insurance, compared with nearly 16 percent of African-Americans and about 10 percent of whites.

Young adults were more likely than older or younger people to be uninsured. Nearly 30 percent of people aged 18-24 had no health insurance.

In comparison, the uninsured included about 9 percent of children younger than 18, almost 27 percent of adults aged 25-35, more than 18 percent of those aged 35-44, and 13% of adults aged 45-64. Medicare coverage generally begins at age 65.

Among adults aged 18-44, men were more likely than women to report having no health insurance.

The report is posted on the CDC's web site.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286656,00.html

 

[Cypress]

Pathetic.


Of course, the standard response is: "Hey! Maybe a lot of those people don't WANT health insurance...they choose to not be insured! Anyway, what do you want us to do? Wait in line to see a doctor, like the Canadians?"

 

[uscitizen]

And notice the biggest group ? Hispanics, with amnesty what will happen to medicaid costs ?

 

[cawacko]

Pathetic.


Of course, the standard response is: "Hey! Maybe a lot of those people don't WANT health insurance...they choose to not be insured! Anyway, what do you want us to do? Wait in line to see a doctor, like the Canadians?"

I went all of 2006 without insurance. I deemed it to expensive so I decided to go without. I can only speak for myself but I fit into your standard "I choose not to be insured" response. I'm not the only young person who made that type of decision.

 

[Cancel7]

I went all of 2006 without insurance. I deemed it to expensive so I decided to go without. I can only speak for myself but I fit into your standard "I choose not to be insured" response. I'm not the only young person who made that type of decision.

You're not that young Cawacko. It's not like you're 22. That was a big gamble. (even at 22 it's a gamble, but the stakes get bigger every year). And it's a gamble no American should have to take.

Also, most who don't have health insurance don't "choose" not to have it. They simply cannot afford it. And really, that's why you didn't have it, no? If it were affordable, you would have made a different "choice"?

However, I am very happy to see that you now do have health insurance.

 

[Cypress]

I went all of 2006 without insurance. I deemed it to expensive so I decided to go without. I can only speak for myself but I fit into your standard "I choose not to be insured" response. I'm not the only young person who made that type of decision.

Cawacko, if you got hit by a car last year, you'd be filing for bankruptcy right now. Not having insurance is playing russian roulette.

And was it really a personal "choice", to not carry insurance? I mean, you would have chosen health insurance, if it was cheaper to purchase, right?

 

[cawacko]

Cawacko, if you got hit by a car last year, you'd be filing for bankruptcy right now. Not having insurance is playing russian roulette.

And was it really a personal "choice", to not carry insurance? I mean, you would have chosen health insurance, if it was cheaper to purchase, right?

Like many things it was a risk/benefit proposition I had to weigh. Yeah, if it was cheaper I would have purchased it.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Cawacko, if you got hit by a car last year, you'd be filing for bankruptcy right now. Not having insurance is playing russian roulette.

And was it really a personal "choice", to not carry insurance? I mean, you would have chosen health insurance, if it was cheaper to purchase, right?

Cypress, we shouldn't act as if the ideal percentage of people in the US who are protected from all accidents should be 0%. Some things are likely to happen, and sometimes something is just so unlikely that it's not worth buying an insurance policy. Also, you may very well have enough money on hand to pay for it should it happen. Almost always you'll lose out on insurance. If anything, insurance is like gambling - you're gambling that you're going to get hit by that car. And you usually lose. You get back about 60% of what you put into it in an average lifetime.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

You're not that young Cawacko. It's not like you're 22. That was a big gamble. (even at 22 it's a gamble, but the stakes get bigger every year). And it's a gamble no American should have to take.

Also, most who don't have health insurance don't "choose" not to have it. They simply cannot afford it. And really, that's why you didn't have it, no? If it were affordable, you would have made a different "choice"?

However, I am very happy to see that you now do have health insurance.

In my opinion, the biggest thing we need to change about the current healthcare system is just to expand medicare to cover all those who could reasonably be expected to not be able to pay for health insurance. A universal system paying for the super rich and people that can afford the costs seems a bit frivolous.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Like many things it was a risk/benefit proposition I had to weigh. Yeah, if it was cheaper I would have purchased it.

How old are you, BTW? I may eat my words about what I said up there...

If you're above 50 it was too risky to consider.

 

[Damocles]

Did you know that self-insured people like Rush Limbaugh are included in this count? I seriously doubt that Paris Hilton wastes much money paying for insurance either.

 

[uscitizen]

In my opinion, the biggest thing we need to change about the current healthcare system is just to expand medicare to cover all those who could reasonably be expected to not be able to pay for health insurance. A universal system paying for the super rich and people that can afford the costs seems a bit frivolous.

Umm do you mean Medicaid ? Medicare is for us oldsters and it pretty much does what you say.

 

[uscitizen]

Did you know that self-insured people like Rush Limbaugh are included in this count? I seriously doubt that Paris Hilton wastes much money paying for insurance either.

yep and all those covered by the VA and Medicare/Medicaid. But we still had almost 15% left uninsured.

 

[uscitizen]

How old are you, BTW? I may eat my words about what I said up there...

If you're above 50 it was too risky to consider.

absolutely anyone with a home and family would be down the tubes without medical insurance.
Can you say homeless ?
The biggest single cause of personal bankruptcy is medical costs.
and now they can dock your pay for several years after filing bankruptcy.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Umm do you mean Medicaid ? Medicare is for us oldsters and it pretty much does what you say.

Yeah, medicaid. Sorry. I often get them confused. I'm probably not the only one. But it should just be expanded to cover the entire working class and lower-middle class.

 

[cawacko]

How old are you, BTW? I may eat my words about what I said up there...

If you're above 50 it was too risky to consider.

I'm 34. I was working as an independent contractor for the year and due to existing conditions my insurance options as an individual were extremely expensive. I decided not to get any and then switched back to being an employee in 2007 so I could get covered again through my company.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Employer insurance is a lot cheaper because it's tax exempt. It's almost a crime against the poor that individual plans aren't tax exempt.

 

[uscitizen]

Yes that would be a first good step for congress to do.
Make individual health insurance premiums be tax exempt.

Heck I figure for what we pay for medicaid, medicare, etc we could covereveryone in a well run system that is allowed to negotiate drug and other costs.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Of course. I never really got the argument that negotiating drug costs was anti-market. Bargaining isn't free market? WTF? You're just letting yourself get ripped off. It's like a fat 'ole government check to the pill companies by the government.

 

[uscitizen]

Of course. I never really got the argument that negotiating drug costs was anti-market. Bargaining isn't free market? WTF? You're just letting yourself get ripped off. It's like a fat 'ole government check to the pill companies by the government.

Whom btw just happen to have a more powerful lobbying effort than the oil companies....
Coincidence ? You be the judge.....

Also it makes the economy look a bit better than it should...