CDC Report Finds 59 Million Americans without Health Insurance

CDC analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and early release NHIS data from the first quarter 2010 to help determine the number of uninsured Americans or who had gaps in coverage. Then CDC used their findings to determine whether lack of health insurance coverage was associated with increased levels of forgone health care. Here are some of it’s key findings:

  1. In Q1 of 2010, approximately 59.1 million people had no health insurance for at least part of the year before the interview, which is up from 58.7 million in 2009 and 56.4 million uninsured in 2008.
  2. Of the 58.7 million who were uninsured in 2009, 82.8% were between the ages of 18-64, and 16.2% were under the age of 18.
  3. From 2008-2009, the number of uninsured children decreased 5%, however the number of adults (aged 18-64) who went without insurance increased 5.7%.

CDC also concluded that Americans aged 18-64 with chronic medical conditions and without consistent health insurance coverage are much more likely to forgo needed medical care than those with the same conditions and continuous coverage. In addition, CDC said: “Increasing the number of persons with continuous health insurance coverage can reduce the number of occasions that persons forgo needed health care, which can reduce complications from illness and avoidable long-term expenditures.”

Click here to read more from CDC’s report on Health Insurance Coverage and Health Care Utilization.