U02d2 The Uninsured Problem - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: THE UNINSURED PROBLEM u02d2 The Uninsured Problem Submitted by: XXXXXX Number: XXXXXX of XXXXXXX The statistics of the health coverage that has been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau highlights a very essential issue of the current times – i.e. the lack of people being insured and the need for higher numbers of people to take up insurances. A research highlights that almost one in three Americans were found to be uninsured between the periods of 2007 – 2008 (Pifer-Bixler, 2009). The U.S Census Bureau, Current Population Survey 2007 – 2009 also brought out the following information:a) The total number of uninsured people moved up from 45.

7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). b) There was an overall increase in the number of people with health insurances. It was noted that this number increased to 255.1 million in 2008, when compared to 253.4 million in 2007 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). c) The year has also shown the decline in use of private health insurances. It was noted that the health insurance from private providers has reduced from 202.0 million in 2007 to 201.0 million in 2008 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). d) The government health insurance saw a higher level of applicants and people have turned more towards the government insurance than the private.

The year 2007 saw a total of 83.0 million while this increased to 87.4 million in 2008 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). e) As mentioned earlier the private insurances reduced a great extent. In 2007 the total percentage of people covered by the private insurances was around 67.5% which reduced to 66.7% in 2008 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). f) The employment based health insurances also saw a decline and it fell from 59.3% in 2007 to 58.5% in 2008. The number of people covered by health insurance for employment bases also decreased from 177.

4 million in 2007 to 176.3 million in 2008 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).CNN has also presented a report which talks of the issue of uninsured. Here in an interview with Ron Pollack, the Executive Director of Families USA, stated, ‘The huge number of people without health coverage is worse than an epidemic’. He also went on to explain, ‘Inaction on health care reform in 2009 cannot be an option for the tens of millions of people who lack or lose health coverage each year . the cost of doing nothing is too high’ (Pifer-Bixler, 2009).

The report has also brought out more details of the issue of being uninsured. The report also states that, ‘Critics say the number of uninsured Americans cited in the Families USA report is misleading. "No one disagrees we have a problem with the uninsured," says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who advised Sen. John McCain on domestic and economic policy during the 2008 election’ (Pifer-Bixler, 2009).In conclusion, it is safe to say that the issue of the uninsured is one which is very serious and needs to be considered with great care and caution.

Although a majority of people are covered by insurance, there are also a major set of people who are not covered hence this needs immediate attention and care and requires to be dealt with in the most appropriate manner (Families USA, 2010). ReferencesFamilies USA. (2010). The Uninsured. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from http://familiesusa.org/issues/uninsured/Pifer-Bixler, J. (2009, March 4). Study: 86.7 million Americans uninsured over last two years. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from CNN Health: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/04/uninsured.epidemic.obama/3U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Health Insurance Coverage: 2008.

Retrieved January 29, 2010, from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/hlthin08/hlth08asc.html