A Decline in Uninsured Is Reported for 2007 - as did the number insured by private carriers

[groovedaddy]

WASHINGTON — After climbing steadily for six years, the number of Americans without health insurance dropped by more than a million in 2007, to 45.7 million, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

The drop was the result of growth in government-sponsored health insurance programs, officials said, most of them focused on children. At the same time, the number of people covered by private insurance continued to decline.

Experts cautioned that the report, which also included data on income and poverty, did not take into account the economic downturn that began late last year, and therefore it probably presents a rosier picture than the current economic reality.

According to the report, the nation’s median household income rose by 1.3 percent in 2007, to $50,233, the third consecutive annual increase. The nation’s poverty rate remained flat at 12.5 percent, the report said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/washington/27census.html?th&emc=th

[marmar]

1. Ah, the numbers behind the numbers.....thank you NYT.

This was reported very superficially and uncritically in many other news outlets yesterday.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. There's a reason for that, although not a good one...

The release of ACS data is fairly complete, but not that easy to get a handle on. Most news outlets will just take the press releases and run with them instead of digging.

This isn't really set up for quick looks-- it's more for serious research:

http://www.census.gov/acs/www/index.html