Uninsured a problem hard to grasp, solve

Disagreements over how many people lack health insurance hinder lawmakers' ability to discuss solutions, experts say.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. April 25, 2005.

Washington -- Experts agree that the number of Americans without health insurance is a problem. They just can't agree on how big a problem.

Next month, a national coalition of health advocacy groups, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Medical Association, will launch the third annual Cover the Uninsured Week. Events across the country are meant to draw attention to the plight of Americans who lack health insurance.

"Individuals and families without coverage face the challenge of finding reliable, affordable, quality health care. Many go without annual check-ups, recommended health screenings, filling needed prescriptions and seeing specialists," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, president of RWJ. "This is simply unacceptable, and we must keep up the pressure until the problem is solved."

But disagreement over exactly how many uninsured Americans there are continues to muddy the national debate about how to fix the problem, experts said.

The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey offers the most-often-cited number of 45 million Americans without health insurance for all of 2003. But a survey by the Dept. of Health and Human Services found that only 28.8 million lacked health insurance that year. The surveys differ in size and methods.

In a separate analysis of the Census Bureau data, HHS suggested there may be as few as 9 million uninsured Americans.

Researchers arrived at that number after deducting individuals who should be in Medicaid, illegal immigrants, young adults with little or no health care costs, and people who could afford health insurance but chose not to buy it.