About the Uninsured

46.6 million Americans were uninsured in 2006, up from 45.3 million people in 2005.
Eight out of 10 uninsured people come from working families.
The continuing growth of the uninsured population is not only in poor and low-income households.
The number of people without health insurance coverage increased from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 15.9 percent in 2005.
The number of people covered by employer-sponsored health insurance decreased from 2004 and 2005, from 59.8 to 59.5 percent.
Uninsured Americans get about half the medical care of those with health insurance. As a result, they tend to live sicker and die sooner than those with coverage.
The United States loses the equivalent of $65 billion to $130 billion annually as a result of the poor health and early deaths of the uninsured.
According to a 2002 survey, nearly half of all uninsured children did not receive a well child visit in the prior year.
There are more than 1.8 million uninsured people in Illinois; 1.3 million of them reside in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Nearly one-quarter of the state’s uninsured are children.
In Illinois, more than 30 percent of Latinos and 23 percent of African Americans are uninsured.
Illinois residents without health insurance are more likely to go without health services,
The uninsured tend to be more seriously ill when diagnosed, and are more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Institute of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alliance for Health Reform, The New York Times