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- A March 2009 study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation cites an increase in the uninsured since 1994 of 9 million. More than 6 million of the increase was among working people. The same study cites a decrease in non-elderly Americans with private health insurance dropped to 67% from 73%, while average employee costs for individual health insurance rose nearly 8 times faster than average incomes.
- Data released by the US Census Bureau in September 2009, confirmed Texas had the highest percentage of uninsured in 2008, with more than 24%. The uninsured nationwide rose to 46.3 million people in 2008, up from 45.7 million the prior year.
- According to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Hospital Association’s Health Research and Education Trust, family premiums for employer-based health insurance rose approximately 5% in 2008, and 131% in the past decade. By comparison, worker wages rose 38% and inflation is up 28% since 1999.
- More US adults are concerned about the cost of health care (69%) than losing their jobs (37%), according to a survey released April 2009 by Catholic Healthcare West. One-third of Americans said “affordable health care for Americans” was the most serious health care challenge facing the nation, up from 22% in 2007. Affordability was the leading reason Americans lacked health insurance (59%), followed by unemployment (22%).
- More working-age adults are delaying medical care or having problems paying medical bills because they are uninsured or paying more out of pocket for health care, according to an August 2008 report by the Commonwealth Fund. Nearly two-thirds of working age adults in 2007 had medical bill problems or debt, went without needed care because of costs, were uninsured for a time, or were insured but had high out-of-pocket medical expenses or deductibles relative to income, the report estimates.
- Uncompensated care, or expenses not paid out-of-pocket, for the nearly 77 million Americans without insurance during all or part of 2008 could total up to $57 billion, according to an analysis published online by the journal Health Affairs.
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A study released in April of 2006 by the Commonwealth Fund finds that more than 40% of Americans who earn between $20,000 and $40,000 annually did not have health insurance for some or all of 2005, a finding that experts say underscores the need to expand health coverage to ensure the future health and productivity of the US workforce.
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A report released in May 2006 by the Commonwealth Fund finds that young adults ages 19 to 29 represent “one of the largest and fastest growing” portions of the US population to lack health insurance, underscoring the need for improved government-sponsored programs and expanded age eligibility under private health plans.
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A growing number of small business owners and full-time workers make up about 80% of America’s 46 million people without health insurance.
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According to a 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), released August 2005 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ):
- White non-Hisanics made up 65% of the US population and almost 50% of the uninsured. About one in seven whites was uninsured, and 10% had only public insurance.
- Black non-Hispanics made up almost 13% of the US population and almost 15% of the uninsured. About one in five blacks was uninsured, and 28% had only public insurance.
- Hispanics made up 15% of the US population and almost 29% of the uninsured. More than one in three Hispanics is uninsured and 25% had only public health insurance.
- The uninsured are much more likely than the insured to have problems accessing health care services. In 2003, nearly half of uninsured adults postponed seeking medical care, and over a third say they needed but did not get the medical care in the past year.
- Most uninsured Texans are in working families. For most uninsured Texans (80%), at least one person in the family works either full-time or part-time.
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