Doctors For America
Health care reform got a serious push this week when Sen. Max Baucus (D., MT) joined with the Center for American Progress to announce the creation of “Doctors For America,” a coalition of more than 11,000 doctors supporting health care reform.
By Christy Harvey, Mic Check Radio
May 5, 2009
(istockphoto.com)
Know Five Things
1. There are 56 million Americans who lack health insurance
The most recent measured data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that there were 46 million Americans without health insurance in 2007. But new research released by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine stated that in January 2009 there were an estimated 52 million uninsured in the United States.
2. More than 10,000 Americans a day are losing health coverage during this recession
According to a new study by the Center for American Progress based on numbers from the Census Bureau, 2.4 million workers have lost the health care once provided by their jobs since the start of the recession. Approximately, 1.3 million of these losses have occurred in the last four months. More than 320,000 Americans lost their employer-provided health insurance in March alone, which amounts to approximately 10,680 workers a day. [CAP]
3. Men are faring worse than women
Men are more likely to have employer-provided health insurance than their female counterparts in industries where both men and women are employed. On top of that, male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing have fared worse in this recession than female-dominated industries. Approximately, 1.7 million men have lost employer-provided health insurance from their jobs as of February 2009, compared to approximately 396,800 women. [CAP]
4. Working Americans are losing coverage
According to the most recent census data, 65 percent of uninsured adults in the United States are employed—that’s 24 million of the 37 million adults who were uninsured in 2007. The states with the highest percentage of working uninsured tend to be rural states: Kansas tops the list, with 75 percent of uninsured working adults employed. Also in the top 10 are states such as New Hampshire (74 percent), Maine (72 percent), and Montana (71 percent). According to a survey by Hewitt Associates, a national benefits management firm, 19 percent of employers are planning to stop offering benefits in the next two to five years. [CAP]
5. Coverage, if you do have it, is getting more expensive.
In 2008, the average annual premium for a family with employer-sponsored insurance was $12,680—a 119 percent increase over the last 10 years. [EHBS]
Talk to An Expert
Interested in talking with an expert on this topic or hosting a speaking event? Contact speakers@campusprogress.org.
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