Re: Worse than we thought...


"Islander" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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John Galt wrote:
"Islander" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Study finds 89.6 million lacked health insurance

I'd like to see this report factoring out the illegal population. I doubt
it's any coincidence that the growth of uninsured Hispanics is so much
larger than other minorities, and the the states with the highest number
of uninsured are those with the larged illegal population.

JG

Well, yes, that would be interesting, but would not excuse the large
number of citizens who are not covered.

Well, I don't know how the word "excuse" factors into the discussion.

The report breaks down the
numbers by race and Hispanic origin (not to be confused with illegal
aliens) as follows:

Race and Hispanic Origin Number Uninsured As Percent of All Uninsured
White, Non-Hispanic 43,463,000 48.5%
Black, Non-Hispanic 14,579,000 16.3%
Hispanic 24,806,000 27.7%
Other* 6,711,000 7.5%
Total** 89,558,000 100.0%

Illegal or not, it is not surprising to me that the number of Hispanics is
high since they seem to get the worst paying jobs, usually without
benefits. Note that Hispanics constitute 15% of the total population as
of last year according to the US Census Bureau. Their poverty rate was
21.8%. Compare this with African Americans who constitute 13% of the
population with a 24.9% poverty rate.

Bottom line is that this is not about illegal immigration. It is purely
and simply about not providing effective health care to a very large
number of Americans.

It becomes about illegal immigration if they're being *used* to inflate the
figures. The discussion on health care needs to stand on its own merits,
those being the number of Americans who are chronically without coverage.
Inflating those figures through gimmicks makes it appear that the
pro-universal coverage group is insure about the strength of their case.

It is essential, in order to understand the problem, to determine (1) how
many Americans (and only Americans) are chronically without coverage because
of cost, plus (2) how many Americans (and only Americans) are chronically
without coverage because of an inability to obtain it. According to
statistics from Kaiser, it appears that even a third of the 47 million
quoted by Census are without coverage because of personal choice.

But, isn't 26 million Americans without coverage enough of an issue so
statistic inflation is not required? I would think so. Let's stay focused.

JG



One-third of people in the U.S. under 65 went without coverage for some
or all of the last two years, reports an advocacy group.
By Jordy Yager, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 21, 2007

WASHINGTON -- -- More than one-third of the people in the United States
under the age of 65 had no health insurance for some or all of 2006 and
2007, according to a study released Thursday by Families USA, an
advocacy group for the uninsured.

The 89.6 million individuals identifying themselves as lacking insurance
for at least a month, according to the advocacy group, was almost double
the number of uninsured reported by the Census Bureau for 2006.

"It's simply unacceptable that for lack of basic health coverage, nearly
90 million Americans had to live in fear of illness and injury in the
last two years," said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, which oversees national healthcare programs.

California had the largest number of individuals uninsured during some
or all of that two-year period -- 13 million, or nearly 41% of state
residents younger than 65. Texas was second, with 9.3 million. Americans
older than 65 are eligible for Medicare and were not considered in the
Families USA study.

More than 70% of those without insurance in part or all of 2006 and 2007
were employed full time, the report said.

Half lacked insurance for nine months or more.

--------------------

Unfortunately, the study does not include Americans over 65. One
wonders what the total would be if they were included.

Full report at: http://familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/wrong-direction.pdf


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Worse than we thought...
    ... Study finds 89.6 million lacked health insurance ... I'd like to see this report factoring out the illegal population. ... the pro-universal coverage group is insure about the strength of their ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Worse than we thought...
    ... Study finds 89.6 million lacked health insurance ... I'd like to see this report factoring out the illegal population. ... Compare this with African Americans who constitute 13% of the ... the pro-universal coverage group is insure about the strength of their ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Worse than we thought...
    ... Study finds 89.6 million lacked health insurance ... I'd like to see this report factoring out the illegal population. ... the pro-universal coverage group is insure about the strength of their ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Worse than we thought...
    ... Study finds 89.6 million lacked health insurance ... I'd like to see this report factoring out the illegal population. ... the pro-universal coverage group is insure about the strength of their ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Worse than we thought...
    ... I'd like to see this report factoring out the illegal population. ... It is purely and simply about not providing effective health care to a very large number of Americans. ... this mess is the large number of 20 somethings who forgo insurance because they think they're immortal and would rather spend it on a 5 series Beamer instead of a 3. ...
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