Uninsured U.S. adults up 2 million, report says (AP)

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From MichaelMoore.com:


June 26th, 2007 2:11 pm
Uninsured U.S. adults up 2 million, report says
By Mike Stobbe / Associated Press

ATLANTA The number of adults without health insurance jumped by 2 million from 2005 to 2006, according to a new federal report.

Uninsured Americans numbered 43.6 million last year, a 6 percent increase from 2005, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost all the increase was in the non-elderly adult population, a trend attributed to diminishing employer coverage and pricier private insurance.

The change in non-elderly adults was significant, but the overall increase was not, CDC officials said. The overall count of the uninsured has been fluctuating between 41 and 44 million over the past five years and is not trending up, they said.

"It's kind of bobbled around," said Robin Cohen, a CDC statistician who is lead author of the report released Monday.

The CDC is one of at least three federal agencies that estimate the number of Americans without health insurance. The U.S. Census Bureau puts out what is perhaps the best-known number, but that agency's 2006 estimate is not to be released until August.

Like the Census Bureau, the CDC's estimate is based on a survey. The CDC interviewed about 75,000 Americans last year, asking if they were uninsured at that point in time. About 15 percent said yes, leading to the estimate that 43.6 million Americans were uninsured.

The number was 41.2 million in 2005; the figure has fluctuated between that mark and 43.6 million for the past five years. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=9949