Health Care Uninsured Rate Rose And Real Wages Fell In 2005

The number of U.S. residents who lack health insurance increased by 1.3 million to a record 46.6 million between 2004 and 2005, while the number of Americans with health insurance coverage rose over the same period by 1.4 million to 247.3 million, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report also found that the median income of U.S. households rose 1.1% to $46,326 from 2004 to 2005, but the median earnings of full-time workers declined.

The findings of the report "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005" were based on data drawn from the 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), the Current Population Survey (CPS), and the 2005 American Community Survey (ACS).

The uninsured rate among the U.S. population rose from 15.6% in 2004 to 15.9% in 2005, according to the report. The percentage of the population covered by employer-sponsored health plans was shown to have declined slightly, from 59.8% in 2004 to 59.5% in 2005, while the percentage of people covered by government health insurance programs remained unchanged at 27.3%. The percentage of uninsured children increased from 10.8% in 2004 to 11.2% in 2005.

Broken down by race and ethnicity, the uninsured rates for non-Hispanic whites (11.3%), blacks (19.6%), and Hispanics (32.7%) remained statistically unchanged from 2004 to 2005, but rose from 16.5% to 17.9% among Asians. The percentage of the total population born in the United States who lacked insurance grew from 13.1% to 13.4%, while the uninsured rate for foreign-born residents was found to be statistically unchanged at 33.6%.

Commenting on the census figures, American Medical Association (AMA) Board Member Ardis D. Hoven, MD, said, "This new government figure on the number of uninsured Americans is a forceful reminder that 46.6 million Americans without health insurance are forced to take a gamble each day that they won't get sick or injured. This increase in uninsured Americans reinforces the urgency of the situation."

Ardis added that the AMA advocates an expansion of health insurance coverage through a system of refundable tax credits based on income, individually selected and owned health insurance, and market reforms that will enhance new, affordable insurance options.

The report also presented findings on income trends among U.S. households. While median household income was found to have risen 1.1% from 2004 to 2005, results showed that the poverty rate remained statistically unchanged at 12.6%. Real median earnings of men who worked full-time declined 1.8% to $41,386 over the period, and the median earnings of women who worked full-time fell 1.3% to $31,853.

Income growth from 2004 to 2005 was found to be highest in the Northeast and the West, where the median income rose 2.9% to $50,882 and 1.5% to $50,002, respectively. Results showed that median income remained statistically unchanged over the period in the Midwest and the South, where the 2005 median incomes were $45,950 and $42,138, respectively.

In an analysis of the 2005 income figures released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Jared Bernstein and Elise Gould asserted that, despite the overall increase in median household income, working families appear to be losing financial ground. The researchers noted that the median income of working-age households fell by 0.5% between 2004 and 2005, but rose 2.8% among households headed by someone age 65 or older.

Between 2000 and 2005, the median income of all households declined 2.7%, but was down 5.4% among working-age households, according to Bernstein and Gould. The researchers observed that these declines in real income occurred during a period of economic expansion, during which gross domestic product rose 12.5% and productivity was up 16.6%.

"The economic growth of the last few years has largely bypassed middle- and low-income families, and especially working families," Bernstein and Gould said. They noted that other data sources reveal historically high growth rates of non-labor income, such as corporate profits, which suggests that "growth has been eluding wage earners and flowing up the income scale to those with high levels of assets."

The Census Bureau figures, the EPI researchers added, "corroborate this dynamic, showing that the gains that did occur tended to show up among higher income households, and not among those who depend on their paychecks to get ahead."