More Americans uninsured, but rate about the same

[November 11, 2010]  ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- The government says the number of uninsured Americans is now nearly 47 million, up about 7 percent from 2006. And a large percentage of people say they have put off health care for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

However, the rate of uninsured has not increased significantly in recent years. That's in part because the population has also been growing and because the proportion of uninsured children has been shrinking.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this week on the uninsured based on tens of thousands of in-person interviews for the years 2006 through early 2010. The number of people who said they were uninsured at the time they were interviewed is up from almost 44 million in 2006.

People also were asked if they had been without health insurance at some point in the previous year. About 59 million said yes.

Last year, more than 40 percent of uninsured adults said they recently skipped some medical care because of cost.

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Online:

APHA: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/

[Associated Press]

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