An estimated 49.9 million U.S. residents, or 16.3% of the population, lacked health insurance in 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Sept. 13. That’s 900,000 more people than in 2009.
The number and proportion of uninsured children were basically unchanged at 7.3 million or 9.8%. The proportion of residents with private health coverage declined by 0.5 percentage point to 64%, while government coverage increased by 0.4 percentage point to 31%.
Employment-based health insurance declined by 0.8 percentage point, while the proportion of residents covered by Medicaid was basically unchanged. Uninsured rates decreased as household income increased, ranging from 26.9% for those earning less than $25,000 a year to 8% for those earning $75,000 or more.
The data covers the first full calendar year since the recession ended in June 2009.
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