Nearly 51 million Americans uninsured in 2009
The number of uninsured people in America rose by 4.4 million to 50.7 million in 2009, up from 46.3 million in 2008, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
Nearly 51 million Americans uninsured in 2009
Josh Goldstein
The number of uninsured people in America rose by 4.4 million to 50.7 million in 2009, up from 46.3 million in 2008, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
Moreover, for the first time since the statistic began to be tracked by the federal government in 1987, the number of people with health coverage actually declined in 2009 compared with the previous year, according to the new government report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009.
Among the report’s findings:
- The number of people with health insurance fell to 253.6 million in 2009, from 255.1 million the previous year.
- The number of people with private health insurance fell from 201.0 million in 2008 to 194.5 million, while the number covered by government health insurance programs (Medicare and Medicaid) rose from 87.4 million to 93.2 million.
- In 2009, 7.5 million children were uninsured.
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Comments (30)
actually looking at the linked PDF, there is nearly 41 million uninsured Americans, not 51, as 9.9 million are illegals— acg1
What they fail to include is nearly 12-15M are illegal aliens and another 30M are young Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 whom feel their money is better spent elsewhere. Now, thanks to Obamacare, everyone has to have insurance (except illegal aliens) and now everyone is paying 14% more (NOT LESS) in soon to be obligatory premium fees. Way to slant the story Inky.- actually looking at the linked PDF, there is nearly 41 million uninsured Americans, not 51, as 9.9 million are illegals— acg1
- What a shame. Hardly "the best healthcare in the world".— SBL
- God Bless America!— juliusman3
- i got mine ! go get yours! oh? can't afford yours? too bad, rot in the street! ... the motto of the right wing regarding just about everything— tvalleras
- Please, SBL. You're talking about health care and this article is talking about health insurance. How many of those uninsured are that way because they choose not to have insurance? It's none of my business if someone doesn't want to carry health insurance. If my doctor would charge market prices and allow me to pay out of pocket for procedures, I would drop my insurance and carry only catastrophic in a New York minute. Would save me a bunch of money and I would still be covered for major things like disease and surgery.— aep1974
- Citizenc92: Your info is incorrect, you much watch FAUXFoxNews, or maybe from Christine O'Donnell. Fully 60% of the uninsured are people who can't get insurance because they have pre existing conditions, or people whose employers don't offer coverage and can't afford the outrageous premiums charged by the for profit companies for substandard care. Under the new healthcare law, I now have access to insurance WHICH I AM PAYING FOR. get your facts straight. SINGLE PAYER FOR ALL— intelliwoman
Comment removed.- Oh Obamacare, here were go. Get your facts straight, citizen moron. I've worked in healthcare for 40 years, and whether some of these people are illegal or not is not the issue, every time someone comes into the ER or hospital without insurance your RATES GO UP in one way or another, get it. You people need to take a good hard look at what happened to our economy. Twenty eight years, thats right 28 years of de-regulation of Wall Street, the banking industry, the housing market, the insurance industry, the manufacturing industry via trade aggreements thus outsourcing, derivitives and the list goes on and people wonder why were in the sh--hole were in, no surprise. How about you turn off Fox News and read some real history books, that is before you decide to burn them, too.— annec
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- No, this isn't a problem at all, because these people WANT to be uninsured, just like they WANT to be poor! Give me a break. If you choose to not have insurance and get sick or injured requiring medical attention, then I pay for it through higher hospital and doctor costs, as well as higher insurance premiums. So spare me the, "If you don't want it, you shouldn't be forced to get it" BS. Please explain to me, if it is so wrong to force people to buy insurance, why I need to buy car insurance? I'm a good driver, I've never been in an accident that was my fault, so why do I need it? I don't. But I know what some response will be so let me ask this, what's the difference between the state (Harrisburg) and the state (Washington DC)? Nothing! They both take our money, they both have armies (Federal forces and the National Guard), so what's the real difference between the two, because as far as I can tell nothing, they just serve different functions. And you know, I hope these lawsuits against reform succeed. Because if the Supreme Court says the state can't force you to buy anything, then I have a automatic win type of suit against Pennsylvania, right? All I have to do is show up with my driving record and insurance history and, in my opinion, open and shut. That will save me about $1,000 a year that I can use to stimulate the economy.— DarkKnight76
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