40% of Americans had no health insurance in 2012

[Redfairen]

Source: PressTV

More than 40 percent of U.S. residents went without health insurance or had coverage that didn't protect them against high medical costs last year, survey results released Friday reveal.

Thirty percent of people in the U.S., or 55 million, were uninsured for at least part of the year prior to the survey, which was conducted from April to August 2012 for the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based research organization. Another 30 million people, or 16 percent of the population, were "underinsured," meaning their health plans offered too little coverage and exposed them to high out-of-pocket costs, the survey found.

People earning up to four times the federal poverty level, which is $11,490 for an individual this year, were the most likely to be uninsured or underinsured. The lower the income, the more common uninsurance or underinsurance was, according to the survey.

Lower-income and uninsured people reported the most problems accessing medical care they needed because of cost and said they faced financial hardships as a consequence of having little or no health insurance coverage protecting them from high expenses, leading in some cases to debts, exhausted savings and damaged credit ratings.

Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/300336.html

[GeorgeGist]

1. Bad math

30% of people in the US does not equal 55 million.

[hughee99]

2. The first thing that jumped out at me as well.

Given the writer's poor grasp of numbers, should the 40% number be believed either?

[frazzled]

3. Probably not: here are US Census nos. on uninsured

The number of uninsured Americans declined from 2010 to 2011 to 48.6 million people, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on income, poverty and health insurance released Wednesday. In 2011, 15.7 percent of Americans had no health insurance compared to 16.3 percent in 2010.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/census-uninsured-young-adults_n_1876862.html

The 15.7% is probably right. Now, the number of underinsured is another story.

[Redfairen]

15. It's good math, bad writing.

55 million people = 30% of working age adults. They didn't describe it that way and should have. Perhaps I should've sought out a better written article when I posted the story. The rise in the total number of those without adequate coverage is, however, the real point here.

[Jake Izzy]

4. The title is an exaggeration and the article itself proves it

First sentence: "More than 40 percent of U.S. residents went without health insurance or had coverage that didn't protect them against high medical costs last year, survey results released Friday reveal. "

Having insurance that "didn't protect them against high medical cost" is not the same as having no insurance. Was the reality too long to include in a title?

By the way, not all US residents are "American." That was terrible journalism.

[im1013]

6. I know myself and my family are part of that 55 million.

Self-employed = uninsured.

[Autumn Colors]

10. Yup, same boat here (nt)

[Jake Izzy]

7. One more criticism: You do not mention that children and people over 64 were not surveyed

"Sample Size: The sample was drawn from a combination of landline and cell phone random-digit dial (RDD) samples. This report limits the analysis to respondents ages 19 to 64 (n=3,393)."

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Surveys/2013/Biennial-Health-Insurance-Survey.aspx

[Gormy Cuss]

12. The issue is who is included in the estimations, not who was surveyed.

The estimations were based on analysis of respondents in that age range (n=3393) but the survey response n was 4432 persons age 19 and older. Seniors were surveyed but their responses were not used for this analysis.

So, the sampling and weighting are representative of the population of adults age 19-64 only (~184 million U.S. residents.)

[uppityperson]

8. That is me. $10,000 deductible before paying for anything except what Obamacare makes them.

[Tumbulu]

11. me too!

the joys of being self employed, I cannot wait for Obamacare to kick in!

[Autumn Colors]

9. Raises hand

Yup, that's me, too. Self-employed and made barely over the poverty level (that's BEFORE paying my self-employment tax (Soc. Sec. contribution). Sorry, but I can't afford $7,500 per year just for the premium payments (without any actual healthcare).

Am hoping I might qualify for the state's expanded Medicaid in 2014, but I'm going through a foreclosure and will technically still "own a house" if the foreclosure isn't finished by then, so that may disqualify me from Medicaid (not sure).

[llmart]

13. I pay for health insurance......

but technically can't use it since my deductible is $7500 and my copay for an office visit is $40 per visit. I get $1000 a month from Social Security and less than $200 a month for a small pension, so $40 is a lot of money to me. I just have to hope that I can stay healthy until I'm 65 .and eligible for Medicare a year from now. Sometimes I am tempted to drop the health insurance and take my chances. It's a ripoff.

[Skeeter Barnes]

14. I have health insurance but can't afford to use it.

[bossy22]

16. I can't afford health insurance

and i'm in medical school....

On Edit: I actually do have insurance but I had to get it through the school and it is pretty much as good as not having insurance. No one takes it, extremely high deductible