Two of five (41%) working-age Americans with incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 a year were uninsured for at least part of the past year--a dramatic and rapid increase from 2001 when just over one-quarter (28%) of those with moderate incomes were uninsured, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem, prepared for the Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System.
The vast majority of the uninsured are in working families: of the estimated 48 million working-age Americans uninsured during the year, 67% were in families where at least one person was working full-time.
One of five (21%) adults, including insured and uninsured, currently has medical debt they are paying off over time, and one-third (34%) either had medical bill problems in the past year or were paying off accrued medical debt.
The survey of adults ages 19 to 64 reveals that medical debt is not an issue for the uninsured alone.
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of adults with medical bills or debt problems said that they or their family member were insured when they incurred the debt.
The survey looked at the medical consequences families face when they go without health care coverage.
Researchers found that an alarmingly high proportion--59 percent--of adults with a time uninsured in the past year with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and asthma, went without or skipped their medications because they couldn't afford them.
One-third (35%) of uninsured adults with chronic conditions visited an ER, or stayed in the hospital overnight, or did both, compared to 16% of those insured all year with a chronic condition.
Americans without health insurance were also more likely to go without recommended cancer, cholesterol, and blood pressure screenings.
According to the report, only 18% of adults ages 50 to 64 who were uninsured at the time of the survey had a colon cancer screening in the past five years compared to 56% of insured adults.
An analysis of the health care experiences of adults released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation confirms similar trends in every state.
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