The number of Americans without health insurance continues to grow, particularly among adults 18 to 64 years old, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 59 million people in the U.S. lacked insurance for at least part of 2010, up from about 56 million in 2008, according to the CDC. The number of adults who had no health insurance for at least part of the past 12 months grew by roughly 1.1 million per year, and about half were considered middle income.
Those figures, arrived at using data from the National Health Interview Survey, present a stark reality of health care coverage and debunk the myth that the uninsured primarily are poor, CDC director Thomas Frieden said in a news briefing.
And 30 million adults went without coverage for more than 12 months, up from 28 million in 2008.
“Adults without consistent health insurance are more likely to skip medical care because of cost concerns, which can lead to poorer health, higher long-term healthcare costs and early death,” according to the CDC.
Filed by Maureen McKinney of Modern Healthcare, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
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