Higher-income households lose health coverage

Households with incomes of $75,000 or more are the fastest-growing group
without insurance.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Losing health insurance isn’t just for the poor.

The fastest-growing group of people without health insurance? Those in households making $75,000 or more, according to data released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday.

“This is a very significant finding,” said Dr. Henry E. Simmons, president of the National Coalition on Health Care. “This is not the poor and the downtrodden any more. They have always had a tough time. This is moving into the middle class.”

The number of Americans without health insurance increased for the sixth straight year in 2006, to 47 million people. It was 44.8 million in 2005.

Among the wealthiest — households with incomes of $75,000 or more — the number without insurance grew by 1.4 million, to about 9.3 million. Among the poorest — households making less than $25,000 — the number without insurance declined by about a half million.

The overall increase was fueled by a decline in the share of workers covered by employer-provided health insurance, said David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.

Some good news

The Census Bureau released its annual poverty, income and health insurance numbers Tuesday, and there was good news in the numbers.

The share of Americans living in poverty declined for the first time since President Bush took office, to 12.3 percent. And the median household income increased for the second straight year, to $48,200.

The last significant decline in the poverty rate came in 2000, during the Clinton administration, when it went from 11.9 percent to 11.3 percent.

The poverty rate increased every year for the next four years, peaking at 12.7 percent in 2004. It was 12.6 percent in 2005, but Census officials said that change was statistically insignificant.

The poverty level is the official measure used to decide eligibility for federal health, housing, nutrition and child-care benefits. It differs by family size and makeup. For a family of four with two children, for example, the poverty level is $20,444.

The poverty rate — the percentage of people living below poverty — helps shape the debate on the health of the nation’s economy.

Democrats on Capitol Hill said the insurance numbers justify spending more money for a popular government health-insurance program for children.

Both chambers of Congress recently passed bills that would dramatically increase funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. The Bush administration, however, opposes both measures saying they would result in people abandoning private coverage for public coverage for children.

The share of Americans without health insurance hit 15.8 percent last year, the highest percentage since 1998. In 2005, 15.3 percent were without insurance.

Bush said the growing number of people without health insurance presents a challenge. “Containing costs and making health insurance more affordable is the best way to reverse this long-term trend,” Bush said.

Several Democrats running for president said the insurance numbers point to weaknesses in the nation’s health-care system.

“These statistics show what most Americans know: Tens of millions of our fellow citizens are completely left out of the economic progress enjoyed by the individuals and corporations on the very top,” said Democrat John Edwards, who has made eradicating poverty a centerpiece of his campaign. “We need truly universal health care and a national effort to eliminate poverty.”

Rising numbers

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton noted that there were a lot fewer people without health insurance when she first addressed the issue as first lady. In 1993, there were 39.7 million Americans without health insurance, according to the Census Bureau.

“It is an even deeper outrage today,” she said in a statement.

Sen. Barack Obama issued a statement that said: “We can keep making excuses for this or ignore it altogether, but as long as these statistics exist they will always be a betrayal of the ideals we hold as Americans.”

Among the findings in the Census Bureau’s report on income and poverty:

UMaryland led the country with a median household income of $65,144. It was followed by New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii and Massachusetts.

UMississippi had the lowest median income, at $34,473. It was followed by West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Alabama.

UMississippi had the highest poverty rate, at 21.1 percent. It was followed by Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas and West Virginia.

UMaryland had the lowest poverty rate, at 7.8 percent. It was followed by New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and Hawaii.