There are 290 million citizens of the United States, with approximately 46 million without health insurance of any kind. The 7 to 10 million illegal immigrants in the country who frequently seek medical care in emergency rooms is not included in the official number of uninsured. Additionally, that number of 46 million only includes those citizens who have been without insurance for 12 months. If we were to also include those individuals who have been without insurance for at least one month, the number of uninsured would balloon to more than 60 milllion.

According to statistics provided by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 53% of the uninsured earn below 200% of the poverty level set by the U.S.government. And interestingly, childless adults are the most unlikely to have health insurance, this demographic making up 45% of the total population and 57% of the total uninsured. And sadly, 21% of the 46 milllion uninsured Americans are under the age of 18. 

Speaking of children, in California alone, thousands of children may soon lose their health care coverage, mostly due to rising premium costs that parents cannot afford in a worsening economy. And as children lose health insurance, they are less likely to receive primary care, less likely to be up to date on vaccinations, do not receive regular dental care, and generally seek urgent or emergent care in hospital emergency rooms, the cost passed on to society as a whole through taxes or increased health insurance premiums. 

While the uninsured are more likely to be white (45% of the total number of uninsured), Hispanics suffer disproportionately from the effects of the lack of health insurance coverage than any other group. (Hispanics make up 14% of the U.S. population yet comprise 30% of the uninsured).

With the slow and inexorable erosion of health coverage by employers, more and more Americans are finding themselves working without the benefit of shared health insurance coverage. Data in 2004 showed that 21 million full-time American workers lacked health insurance coverage at that time, and we can only surmise that that number has increased significantly over the last four years. And with 11% of all American children living without health insurance (and most likely also lacking a source of afforable primary care), the societal cost of such statistics is potentially devastating. 

The plight of the uninsured in the United States is indeed worsening, and despite campaign promises and political rhetoric from the major candidates in the presidential race, many citizens---including this nurse---remain skeptical that any meaningful reforms will be enacted in order to close the gap that leaves so many American men, women and children without the safety net of health insurance. While we can certainly hear the messages of hope and renewal being shouted from the campaign stump, we keep in the back of our minds the image of those 46 million Americans who lack any sense of hope when it comes to caring for their own health, and we wonder if any American politician or governmental body will truly have the audacity and wherewithal to provide meaningful and affordable health care for all. 

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NurseKeith is a nurse, consultant, writer and blogger. Please feel free to visit his blog, Digital Doorway .  

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uninsured children
written by NurseKeith, August 27, 2008

SunnyRN,

You're right----it is the notion of uninsured children that also bothers me the most. President Bush (only a few months left, folks!) was trying to gut the SCHIP program for uninsured kids, and I'm actually not sure what happened with that.

In some states, there is better coverage for kids than others. In Massachusetts, their attempt at universal coverage has lowered the number of uninsured people in the state, overall, but I have not seen the hard numbers vis-a-vis how many children are still left without insurance.

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Yes, they are worse
written by SunnyRN, August 27, 2008

Yes, things are getting worse. In the ambulatory care clinic where I work in the NYC area, more and more uninsured people are coming in requesting applications for free care. It is very sad to see so many kids without insurance. Many of them are not up to date on their shots and are sent by the schools. We are usually overwhelmed in September with such cases.

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