The problem of the uninsured is continuing to grow. The federal government estimates that 47 million individuals lacked health insurance coverage of any kind during 2006. Other research shows that tens of millions more Americans go without health coverage for shorter periods of time.
- Recent Census Bureau data demonstrate that the problem of the uninsured continued in 2006. According to figures released in August 2007, 47 million people -- 15.8 percent of the total U.S. population -- were uninsured in 2006, up slightly from 15.3 percent in the previous year.1
- The percentage of the non-elderly population that is uninsured has climbed steadily from 15.2 percent in 1994 to 17.2 percent in 2005 (with a slight dip of no more than one percentage point around the turn of the century).2
Sources
1"Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006." U.S. Census Bureau, August 2007, table 6, p. 21.
2Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates from the March Current Population Survey, Supplement.
Note: This fact sheet is currently being updated to reflect numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August 2007.
Source: http://covertheuninsured.org/factsheets/display.php?FactSheetID=101