qotd: Census Bureau - 33 million uninsured is good news?

U.S. Census Bureau
September 2015
Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2014
By Jessica C. Smith and Carla Medalia

• The uninsured rate decreased between 2013 and 2014 by 2.9 percentage
points. In 2014, the percentage of people without health insurance
coverage for the entire calendar year was 10.4 percent, or 33.0 million,
lower than the rate and number of uninsured in 2013 (13.3 percent or
41.8 million).

• The percentage of people with health insurance coverage for all or
part of 2014 was 89.6 percent, higher than the rate in 2013 (86.7 percent).

• Between 2013 and 2014, the increase in the percentage of the
population covered by health insurance was due to an increase in the
rates of both private and government coverage. The rate of private
coverage increased by 1.8 percentage points to 66.0 percent in 2014 (up
from 64.1 percent in 2013), and the government coverage rate increased
by 2.0 percentage points to 36.5 percent (up from 34.6 percent in 2013).

• Between 2013 and 2014, the greatest changes in coverage rates were the
increases in direct-purchase health insurance and Medicaid. The largest
percentage-point change in coverage was for direct-purchase, which
increased by 3.2 percentage points to cover 14.6 percent of people for
some or all of 2014 (up from 11.4 percent in 2013). The percentage of
people with Medicaid coverage during all or part of the year increased
by 2.0 percentage points to 19.5 percent in 2014 (compared with 17.5
percent in 2013).

http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-253.pdf

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Physicians for a National Health Program
September 16, 2015
More Americans gain health coverage, but many can't afford to use it:
doctors group

"The Census Bureau's official estimate that 33 million Americans lacked
health insurance in 2014 reflects a significant and welcome drop from
the 42 million it reported as uninsured in 2013," said Dr. Robert Zarr,
president of Physicians for a National Health Program, today. "But the
number of people who remain without coverage is still intolerably high.
And the Census Bureau report leaves entirely unmentioned the millions of
people who have health insurance but who can't afford to use it because
of high deductibles and copays."

"How is it possible that in 2015 one of the richest countries in the
world still does not guarantee every resident the right to health care?"
Zarr continued. "This question would not be necessary if we had a health
care system worthy of the name – single-payer national health insurance,
or an improved and expanded Medicare for All."

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2015/september/more-americans-gain-health-coverage-but-many-can't-afford-to-use-it-doctors-grou

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Comment by Don McCanne

The good news in this annual Census Bureau report is that there were
significant increases in the numbers insured as a result of
implementation of the Affordable Care Act - primarily in direct-purchase
due to the mandate and in expansion of the Medicaid program. The bad
news is that 33 million remain uninsured and, though not in the Census
report, tens of millions are under-insured.

Our current national policies will continue to leave about 30 million
people without insurance, and financial hardship due to under-insurance
is expected to increase. We can anticipate more unnecessary suffering,
hardship, and premature deaths.

PNHP President Robert Zarr said it, "How is it possible that in 2015 one
of the richest countries in the world still does not guarantee every
resident the right to health care? This question would not be necessary
if we had a health care system worthy of the name – single-payer
national health insurance, or an improved and expanded Medicare for All."