U.S. Census Bureau report confirms rising number of uninsured Americans

American Family Physician,  Oct 15, 2004  by Genevieve Ressel

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In a new report, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003," the U.S. Census Bureau confirms that the number of Americans without insurance is rising. About 45 million persons did not have health insurance in 2003, which is an increase of 1.4 million since 2002. The number of uninsured children in 2003 remained at 8.4 million (11.4 percent), level with 2002. According to the report, the percentage of Americans covered by government health insurance programs was up from 25.7 percent in 2002 to 26.6 percent, primarily because of Medicaid and Medicare coverage increases. The uninsured rate did not change for blacks (19.5 percent), Asians (18.7 percent), or Hispanics (32.7 percent). The full report is available online at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income03.html.

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