Nearly 50M Americans Have No Health Insurance

By CP News Briefs, Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Census Bureau said Tuesday that the number of Americans without health insurance has increased once again, adding more gloom to the U.S. economic situation.

According to the statistics, there are now 49.9 million people who lacked health insurance. Last year, there were about 16.3 percent of people without insurance, with the bulk being foreign-born residents, young adults from 19- to 25-years-old, and low income families with yearly household income of $25,000 or less.

The decline of insured individuals in the recent years is attributed to the loss of employer-provided coverage, which led to a cutting back of health benefits for employees.

Elise Gould, director of health policy research for the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank said according to CNN, "As the job market remains weak, Americans can no longer depend on their workplace for consistent affordable coverage.”

Those with health insurance through employers fell to 55.3 percent in 2010 from 56.1 percent the year.

Gould explained that some employers stopped offering health insurance, while others pass the cost to their employees.

With the increasing trend of Americans not being able to receive health care coverage from their employers, different government-funded programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Program and Military Health Care are having to be used to support the strain.

Unfortunately, these government-funded programs have a lot of limitations.

Gould explained that nearly one-in-four adults are now uninsured.