Now Over 45 Million Americans Lack Health Insurance

This year in the first six months around 45.4 million Americans of all the ages had no health insurance, according to the National Health Interview Survey statistics released recently.

In addition, 58.4 million people of all the ages had been uninsured for at least part of the year prior to the interview, and 31.9 million had been uninsured for more than a year, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention’s National Center of Health Statistics.

The findings are from the data analyses of almost 32,700 respondents. NHIS data collected since 1957 is used widely to monitor health trends.

Among the other results from the year January to June:

• At the time of interview the percentage of children under 18 without health insurance was 8.2%

• Among the adults up to 64years old, 60.6%of those who were unemployed and had been uninsured for at least part of the past year.

• Among the people under age 65 with private health insurance, 22.7% were enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP), including 6.4%who were enrolled in consumer-directed health plan (CDHP).

• Almost 50% of those with private plan obtained by means other than through an employer were in a HDHP, and about 20% with those with a private plan were in family.

• 12.3 % of poor children and 11.6 % of near-poor children didn't have the insurance.

• 80.9 % of poor children and 57.8 % of near-poor children were covered by public health plan.

• The percentage of near-poor adults younger than 65 who lacked insurance at the time of interview increased from 2008 to the first half of 2009.

• Lack of coverage of health insurance was highest in the South and West.