FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2006

Contact: Joanne Landy, Executive Director
Physicians for a National Health Program
New York Metro Chapter
(212) 666-4001 or (646) 207-5203

Physician Group Decries 1.3 Million Rise in Uninsured

Uninsured Ranks Swell as Private Coverage Deteriorates
Middle-Class Losing Coverage at Fastest Rate
14,000 Doctors: "National Health Insurance is the Only Solution"

NEW YORK, NY - Responding to newly-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing that the number of uninsured Americans increased by 1.3 million in 2005, members of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) condemned the sharp increase in the number of uninsured and called for a national health insurance program to provide comprehensive coverage to all Americans. The number of uninsured rose from 45.3 million in 2004 to 46.6 million in 2005 (15.9 percent of the population), the fifth straight year of increases.

The number of uninsured has increased by 6.8 million since 2000. The number of uninsured children rose from 7.9 million in 2004 to 8.3 million (11.2 percent of all kids) in 2005, despite continued expansions of the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.

"More full time working and middle class Americans are joining the millions of people with no health insurance coverage of any kind. Additionally, there are the tens of millions more whose insurance is so skimpy they'd be facing financial hardship, including bankruptcy, if they got sick. The average American is becoming more vulnerable as the health insurance system continues to unravel," said Dr. Oliver Fein, Chair of the New York Metro Chapter of PNHP and Professor of Clinical Medicine and Public Health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

PNHP noted that the large increase in the number of uninsured Americans was a result of the continued erosion of employer-based coverage, which is provided by private insurance companies. A million full time workers lost their coverage between 2004 and 2005 (in 2005, 21.5 million of the uninsured worked full-time). The proportion of Americans covered by employer-based coverage continues to plummet, from 63.6 percent in 2000, to 59.8 percent in 2004, and 59.5 percent in 2005.

Significantly, almost all the rise in the uninsured was in families with incomes over $50,000 per year. The number of uninsured people in households making between $50,000 and $75,000 per year rose the fastest, by 600,000 people, to 8.3 million (14.1 percent of this income group). Additionally, the number of uninsured in households making over $75,000 rose by 870,000, to 8.7 million. (Low income people, those in households making under $25,000, continue to suffer the highest rate of uninsurance.)

"The number of uninsured is going to continue to climb as long as health care costs continue to rise unchecked," said Dr. Leonard Rodberg, Senior Health Policy Analyst of the New York Metro Chapter of PNHP and Professor of Urban Studies at Queens College. "We can no longer afford the waste and inefficiency, the high overhead and excessive executive salaries of the private insurance industry."

Hispanics continue to be hardest hit among minorities. The number of uninsured Hispanics increased from 13.5 million in 2004 to 14.1 million in 2005. 32.7 percent of all Hispanics are uninsured, compared with 19.6 percent of Blacks (7.2 million people), 17.9 percent of Asians (2.3 million people), and 11.3 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

"Lack of coverage among Hispanics is the greatest health disparity issues for the Latino population" said Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, NY Metro Chapter of PNHP Board member and Director of the Center for Health of Urban Minorities at Columbia University. "Band-aid solutions are clearly failing the Latino community and are no longer tolerable. Already, eleven Latino Congressmen have signed on to The National Health Insurance Act (HR 676, introduced by U.S. Representative John Conyers) and a growing list of Latino organizations and groups are calling for such reforms. Most recently, the National Hispanic Medical Organization, representing 36,000 licensed Hispanic physicians in the U.S., expressed their support for National Health Insurance."

PNHP said that the only solution to the rising number of uninsured and underinsured is a single-payer national health insurance program, publicly financed but delivered by private doctors and hospitals. Such a program could save more than $400 billion annually in administrative waste, enough to provide high-quality coverage to all and halt the erosion of the current private system. On Monday, the California Assembly voted 43-30 in favor of a statewide single-payer program.

"An increasing number of Americans is now experiencing the human suffering that results from being uninsured. It makes any illness a potential economic and social catastrophe," said Dr. Fein. "The Bush Administration's 'reforms' fail to address the systemic problems of the health system, with its mounting costs and diminishing access. By contrast, the experience of other industrialized nations teaches us that high-quality, comprehensive care can be provided to all our citizens without increasing health spending. A single-payer national health insurance system has emerged as only solution to the nation's health system debacle."

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Physicians for a National Health Program is an organization of 14,000 American physicians advocating for non-profit national health insurance. PNHP has chapters and spokespersons across the country. For contacts, call (312) 782-6006