Number Of Americans Lacking Insurance

One of the major issues that are being highlighted by the current health-care reform debate is the plight of the uninsured in the United States. The controversy is a heated one, dividing along party lines in many cases and making any sort of bi-partisan solution difficult to conceive – let along execute.

According to recent report filed by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans across the country that do not currently have health insurance actually increased to 46.3 million in 2008 from 45.7 million in 2007. This number represents 15.4% of the population, up from 15.3% the previous year.

The report shed some light on how the distribution of coverage varies across the country and points to related factors that may be influencing the lack of coverage. For instance, the level of health coverage differs widely by region. This is at least partly due to the varying levels of unemployment in those areas.

For a state like Massachusetts, which has a version of universal coverage, few than on in 20 state residents were uninsured. As a result, Massachusetts had the lowest levels of uninsured nationwide. On the opposite end, Texas had the highest levels with one in four residents currently uninsured.

Other states like Illinois and Indiana had percentages of 12.8% and 13.9% respectively, which could well represent an average number of uninsured residents for most states. According to additional figures, there were other states t hat fit into the lower brackets of uninsured residents. The lowest besides Massachusetts included Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Such figures present a different picture depending on what party you belong to and what solutions you think will provide the widest net of coverage for the millions of Americans who do not have proper insurance coverage to help pay for the escalating costs of health care service.