Private Insurance At An All Time Low, Survey Finds
Posted on: Thursday, 2 July 2009, 10:40 CDT
The amount of Americans with private health insurance is at an all time low, according to new government reports.
65% of Americans had private insurance in 2008, down from 67% in 2007, says the statistics announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number has now dropped to under 50%.
"It's bad news," said Kenneth Thorpe, a health policy examiner at Emory University.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, 80% of Americans were privately insured, note CDC officials.
Several experts held responsible the hesitant economy and increased health insurance premiums as the cause of the recent data. They think the declining statistics for 2009 could be even worse.
On the other hand, public coverage has grown in a few states, mainly because of programs like Medicaid increasing eligibility. Therefore, not all the adults that do not have private coverage are uninsured, Thorpe stated.
CDC projected that 44 million adults did not have insurance in 2008, which is practically the same as CDC estimates for the last few years.
The CDC is one of three U.S. agencies that pulls together data over the lack of health insurance. The U.S. Census Bureau has the most reputable one, but their 2008 data is not due until August.
The CDC's data is taken from a survey. The CDC spoke with 75,000 Americans in 2008, asking if they were without insurance at the time of the interview. 15% were without, leading to the statistic that 44 million Americans were without insurance.
The CDC also released data on insurance in the 20 largest states, and noted that the percent of uninsured Americans ranged from 3% in Massachusetts to 23% in Texas.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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