NC Healthcare Coverage Blog

For the first time in seven years, the amount of people in the U.S. without health coverage fell in 2007. The number of uninsured fell from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million last year, mainly because of more government coverage. That is 15.3% of the population, which was formerly 15.8%.

Devon Herrick, health economist for the conservative National Center for Policy Analysis, says some of the 18 million of the uninsured make over $50,000 yearly and most likely could afford insurance. “About 32 million people, or 70% of the uninsured, could easily obtain coverage,” Herrick said.

Some of the uninsured aren’t U.S. citizens. They account for 21% or 9.7 million of the uninsured. A lot of people who decide not to obtain health insurance are young, healthy people. Those 18-34 year olds account for 39%, or 18.2 million.

These uninsured numbers count anyone who does not have health coverage at anytime during the year. This includes people who are in between jobs. 

The chronically uninsured, between 10 and 15 million are uninsured because they just don’t qualify for coverage.

There wasn’t much change in the amount of insured last year concerning employer-sponsored coverage.  More people enrolling in government health care programs caused most of the rise.

The amount of people with health coverage has risen by about 16 million since 1999, mostly due to government programs.

“This shows a startling trend toward more government insurance.” said Greg D’Angelo, who is a policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “The improvement this year was driven by expansions of Medicaid and SCHIP and the aging of the popullation. This is a wake-up call, that we need to transition to a system tying coverage to the person, not to the job or government.”

The current presidential campaign reveals these basic differences. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wants to change the employer-sponsored system by providing each individual and family a tax credit for purchasing health insurance. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wants to broaden the employer market with tax breaks for covering workers. Widening government-provided coverage is also on his agenda.

Premiums for private health insurance has risen about 10% yearly, since 2000, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That accounts for more than three times the rate of inflation.