New Study Finds 60 Million Uninsured During a Year

[Guest guest]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/health/13HEAL.html?th

 

New Study Finds 60 Million Uninsured During a Year

By ROBERT PEAR

 

 

 

ASHINGTON, May 12 — Nearly 60 million people lack health insurance at some point

in the year, the Congressional Budget Office said today, adding that official

estimates fail to distinguish between people who lack coverage for a few months

and those who are uninsured for a full year or more.

 

Members of Congress, administration officials, lobbyists and advocates often

cite the Census Bureau when they declare that 41 million people have no health

insurance.

 

But in a new report today, the budget office said the bureau's figure

" overstates the number of people who are uninsured all year, " while

significantly understating the number who are insured for only part of the year.

 

The report said 57 million to 59 million people, " about a quarter of the

nonelderly population, " lacked insurance at some time in 1998, the most recent

year for which reliable comparative figures were available.

 

At the same time, the budget office said, government surveys suggest that the

number of people uninsured for the entire year was 21 million to 31 million, or

9 percent to 13 percent of nonelderly Americans.

 

The widely used figure from the Census Bureau is based on interviews conducted

by the government, as part of the Current Population Survey, in March of each

year. The questions about insurance are meant to identify people who were

uninsured for all the prior calendar year.

 

But the budget office said that many people " report their insurance status as of

the time of the interview, rather than for the previous calendar year as

requested. "

 

The new research confirms what some economists and health policy experts had

suspected for years: that it is difficult to count the uninsured because people

are continually losing and gaining coverage, and they do not always understand

the questions asked in government surveys.

 

Douglas J. Holtz-Eakin, the new director of the Congressional Budget Office,

said: " Far from being a static group, the uninsured population is constantly

changing. While many people are chronically uninsured, many more are uninsured

for shorter periods of time. "

 

In writing legislation to expand coverage, Mr. Holtz-Eakin said, members of

Congress must " consider the distinction between the short-term and long-term

uninsured. "

 

Lawmakers have proposed several approaches. Republicans and some Democrats want

to offer tax credits to help individuals or small businesses buy private

insurance. Many Democrats want to expand Medicaid, the federal-state program for

low-income people, or the Children's Health Insurance Program.

 

Some Democrats, including Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, want employers to provide coverage

to employees, with government subsidies.

 

The budget office conducted its study at the request of Representative Bill

Thomas, the California Republican who is the chairman of the Ways and Means

Committee.

 

Mr. Thomas said the report offered " some good news: fewer individuals are

long-term uninsured than previously thought. "

 

But Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, said: " The report underscores

how big a crisis our country is facing. On any given day, more than 40 million

Americans live with the prospect of facing financial ruin in order to pay for

their health care, or going without care altogether. "

 

One question the budget office addressed was how long people go without coverage

when they are uninsured. For some, the experience is relatively brief. But

others go more than two years without insurance.

 

The office focused on people who became uninsured from mid-1996 to mid-1997 and

tracked them for several years. It found that 45 percent were uninsured for four

months or less, 26 percent were uninsured for 5 to 12 months, and 13 percent

lacked coverage for 13 to 24 months, while 16 percent were uninsured more than

two years.

 

 

 

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search |

Corrections | Help | Back to Top

 

 

Gettingwell- / Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to: Gettingwell-

Or, go to our group site: Gettingwell

 

 

 

The New Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.