The new numbers - Health Insurance Reform Can not Wait

 

Thursday, Sep 17,2009, 2:36:37 PM   Click:

WASHINGTON - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Health and Social Services, Dr. Kathleen Sebelius today issued a new state by state analysis of census figures last week in the United States regarding the uninsured. The results are sobering and I confirm that the reform of health insurance can not wait another year.

These figures only confirm more of a reality that too many American families live with every day, "said Secretary Sebelius. Our system of health care has reached a breaking point. The status quo is not viable, and continues to delay the reform is not an option.

The facts below illustrate the urgent need to reform health insurance.

• Nationwide, the number of uninsured has increased from 39.8 million in 2001 to 46.3 million in 2008.
  • With the exception of Massachusetts - which enacted its own version of health insurance reform in 2006 - every state in the nation has seen its uninsured population grow or remain unacceptably high from 2001 to 2008. These numbers don't even include those who have lost their insurance in the recent recession or have had coverage gaps of shorter than a year.
  • In nearly every state, private coverage is eroding with the percentage of people covered by employer-based coverage decreasing.
• The new numbers also drive home the frightening reality that losing health insurance could happen to any of us.
  • Across the nation, more and more working Americans are uninsured, left without protection from health care costs.
  • Even among high-income households, the ranks of the uninsured are rapidly growing.

In states across the country, we've seen the health care coverage situation go from bad to worse, Secretary Sebelius added. And it's clear that losing insurance isn't a problem that plagues only the poor or the unemployed - it could happen to anyone.

To learn more and view state by state data, visit http://www.healthreform.gov/healthcarestatus.html.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.



HHS Press Office

202-690-6343

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)