More about the Problem of the Uninsured in the United States

According to the latest Census Bureau report, 32.4 percent, nearly one in three, Hispanic Americans were uninsured in 2002, the highest percentage of any racial or ethnic group. One in five African Americans were uninsured.

Eight out of 10 uninsured Americans were in working families. In most cases, the main earners in these families either had jobs that offered no health coverage of the premiums were unaffordable.

Because uninsured Americans cannot afford needed medical care, they live sicker and die younger than Americans with health coverage.

For example:

• Uninsured women who develop breast cancer are twice as likely to die than insured women with the same diagnosis
• Uninsured men are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed at a late stage of colon cancer than insured men
• Uninsured children who need medical or surgical care are four times more likely to go without care than insured children with the same needs