The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that roughly 20% of American, 60 million people, were without health insurance at some point between the beginning of 2008 and now. The results of the survey go through the end of last June.
Two-thirds of those who did not have coverage for at least part of the time were unemployed, working-age adults. Those most likely to lack health coverage were Hispanics, men and young adults ages 18 to 24, the CDC found, according to a report from Reuters.
The numbers almost certainly mean that the estimates for the cost of the national health care plan are understated because the number of uninsured people has been undercounted. Most statistics used in the debate show that more than 40 million people are chronically without health insurance. It is now clear that the figure is periodically, if not permanently higher.
The cost of healthcare reform over the next decade is pegged at $800 billion or higher. The assumption that supporters of reform use to press their case is that savings brought by wringing waste out of health care delivery, more competitive pricing of drugs, and a drop in the number of uninsured people who need acute and expensive treatment will all contribute to more than covering the cost of the new initiatives which are part of the tremendous legislative package.
All of those assumptions about costs and saving are true until they are proved not to be. An extra 60 million people who are without health insurance for a substantial period of time changes the math about who has coverage and who needs it.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks