More Adults Lack Health Insurance

[UpInArms]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=5557999

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of American adults who live without health insurance surpassed 20 percent last year, the second consecutive yearly rise, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

The CDC nationwide survey of more than 91,000 people did not say what led to the increase in uninsured adults to 20.1 percent in 2003 from 19.1 percent the previous year.

The level of uninsured adults in 2003 was also 6.3 percent above that of 1997, the height of the U.S. economic boom and the first year for which such data became available.

The drop in coverage between 1997 and 2003 occurred during a period marked by a downturn in the U.S. economy and a subsequent rise in unemployment.

<snip>

Overall, 43.6 million Americans of all ages, or 15.2 percent of the population, went without health insurance in 2003, up from 14.7 percent in 2002 and down slightly from 15.4 percent in 1997, according to the CDC survey. Hispanics were three times more likely than whites and about twice as likely as blacks not to have insurance.

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[bluestateguy]

1. That might be your answer right there

Maybe jobs are coming back, but one shouldn't be surprised to find out that if someone who made good money in a professional job with benefits goes back to work in a menial job with no benefits, that person may not be ready to send Baby Bush a whole lot gratitude.

[bemildred]

2. It's a rotten deal, unless it comes with your job.

And I'm not sure about it then.