Watch the numbers change: 4,254,089 lost coverage since 1/1/08

By GottaLaff

Laffy Note: I've bumped this post up from a couple of weeks back. I think you can see why.

The title reflects the number that showed up as I typed this. It actually increased by 4 as I added these sentences. Thank you Mudflats, for the widget.



But these people think we're wrong to want a public option so that more people can get covered.

Study: 45,000 Uninsured Die a Year, Linked To

Sobering and sad. Not just statistics.

(CBS) A year-and-a-half ago, Daniel Durate started dropping a lot of weight, going from 290 to 240 pounds.

Having quit his full-time job at a dairy to freelance in the catering business -- gambling he wouldn't need the insurance -- Durate didn't go to the doctor until he could no longer eat. The diagnosis: Stage 4 stomach cancer. Medicaid paid for his surgery last April.

"Would you have been in a different place if you had health insurance?" asked CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod.

"Totally," Durate said. "I would have been able to go to a doctor like maybe last year."

"We found that 45,000 Americans are dying annually, due to lack of health insurance," said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

Woolhandler was part of a team that tracked more than 9,000 people for up to 13 years, comparing the health of those with insurance to those without. After factoring in education and income, smoking, drinking and obesity, researchers found that the uninsured had about a 40 percent higher risk of death, linking 45,000 American deaths a year to lack of insurance. In 1993 it was 25 percent.

Census: Poverty Rate Hits 13.2 Percent; Number of Americans Without Health Care Rises to 46.3

Just horrible.

(AP) The Census Bureau reports that the number of people lacking health insurance rose to 46.3 million in 2008.

That's up from 45.7 million in 2007, due to a continuing erosion of employer-provided insurance. Still, the level remained just below the peak of 47 million who were uninsured in 2006, because of the growth of government insurance programs such as Medicaid for the poor.

The nation's poverty rate increased to 13.2 percent, up from the 12.5 percent in 2007. That meant there were 39.8 million people living in poverty. It was the highest rate since 1997.

The statistics released Thursday cover the first full year of the current recession.

Video- Matt Taibbi versus Maria Bartiromo on numbers of "uninsured"

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And looky here, CNN debunked Bartiromo's talking point!!

CNN Truth Squad: The uninsured — 46 million or 8 million?

The Statement: The number of people unable to get health insurance in the United States is only about 8 million, far lower than the total of 46 million that the Census Bureau says lack health insurance. Several people at congressional town hall meetings have cited the figure to argue that the sweeping congressional proposals to expand health coverage are unnecessary.

The Facts: The figure has been disseminated by the Pacific Research Institute, a conservative think tank that opposes the Obama administration's push for health-care reform. But Rowena Itchon, a spokeswoman for the institute, said the number was drawn from a 2003 study by the insurance company Blue Cross-Blue Shield.

(snip)

But the Census Bureau's survey — which found about 15 percent of the U.S. population uninsured — is the largest and most regular survey, said Karyn Schwartz, a senior policy analyst at the nonprofit and nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. And according to its findings, "The bulk of the uninsured are U.S. citizens, they're from working families, but they have low incomes and would likely have trouble affording private coverage," she said.

The latest Census Bureau survey was published in 2008, based on data gathered in 2007. That survey does not take into account effects of the current recession, which officially began in December 2007.

The Verdict: In dispute — but most researchers who study health care issues rely on the Census Bureau's figures.

Could you imagine the children of a Bartiromo/Scarborough pairing? Smarmy and smug to the nth degree.

Uninsured Wristbands: Medical alert bracelets for uninsured Americans

By GottaLaff

A wrist-slap to the health care industry (keyword: "industry"):

At first glance, this wristband looks like just another "awareness bracelet." However, it isn't meant to be used simply as a fundraising tool or symbol of concern.

The people wearing the uninsured wristband are spreading a personal message:

"I'm uninsured, you may not know why, but now you know my face. Maybe I look like you or someone you love. I'm uninsured and scared of being without health insurance in this country. Maybe my health is already suffering from lack of health care. Today it's me, tomorrow it could be you."

The state of America's healthcare system is a medical emergency.

[...] "When we do find the cures, who's going to have access to them? Only those who can afford health insurance?"

Even those who have health insurance are routinely denied essential care and burdened with skyrocketing costs, high deductibles and out-of-network expenses.

Just how many people in America are uninsured today?

The actual number of uninsured folks in America is debatable. The goal of this project is not to debate, but to make the invisible visible.

Go here for details on how to purchase one.

H/t: Pigboy