Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Uninsured Americans 2012: More Than 45 Million Lacked Health Insurance Last Year, CDC Reports

More than 45 million U.S. residents didn't have health insurance during the first nine months of last year, according to survey findings released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even more people, 57.5 million, were uninsured for at least part of the 12 months before being polled.



uninsured americans 2012


The overall uninsured rate declined slightly from 2011, according to the CDC, which polled 80,618 people between January and September of last year. Just 6.6 percent of children lacked health insurance at the time of the survey, compared to 20.8 percent of adults aged 18 to 64. Virtually everyone 65 and older is covered by Medicare.


uninsured americans 2012


In addition to determining whether a person was uninsured at the time they were interviewed or at any point during the prior 12 months, the CDC also found that 33.8 million people had been uninsured for more than a year.

uninsured americans 2012


Not surprisingly, people with lower incomes were more likely to be uninsured. Forty-one percent of people with incomes below the poverty level -- which was $11,170 for a single person last year -- and 39 percent of those earning between the poverty level and twice that amount had no health insurance at the time they were interviewed, compared to 11.4 percent of people with higher incomes.

uninsured americans 2012

President Barack Obama's health care reform law aims to extend health insurance coverage to a large portion of the uninsured. According to the Congressional Budget Office, health care reform will reduce the number of uninsured people by 27 million between next year and 2023.

Obamacare targets its assistance to the poor and near-poor who are least likely to have health care coverage. The law will provide Medicaid coverage to those with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty level ($15,282 for a single person this year) -- unless they live in a state that opts out of the Medicaid expansion. People who earn between the poverty level and four times that amount will be eligible for tax credits for private health insurance.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author:  Jeffrey Young 

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