New health care bill pros and cons: Coverage slipped in past decade
Looking at the latest annual estimates of health insurance coverage, it's plain to see that the 2000s weak economic environment and likely steadily rising premiums worked to put downward pressure on Americans ability to remain insured.
Health insurance coverage hit an all time high in 2000 when some 86.30% of Americans were covered by health insurance and only 13.70% wen uncovered.
Not surprisingly, the latest trends in health insurance coverage appear to generally conform to the total unemployment rate and individual food stamp participation.
It appears that roughly 15%-18% of Americans are unemployed/underemployed, receive substantial government assistance and currently go without health insurance.
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