[Peace-discuss] US poor, uninsured increased last year

[Ricky Baldwin]

Ranks of Poor, Uninsured Rose in 2003 

27 Aug 04

By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans living in poverty
increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of
the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census
Bureau reported Thursday.
 
It was the third straight annual increase for both
categories. While not unexpected, it was a double dose
of bad economic news during a tight re-election
campaign for President Bush. 

Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the
poverty line in 2003, or about 12.5 percent of the
population, according to the bureau. That was up from
34.5 million, or 12.1 percent in 2002. 

The rise was more dramatic for children. There were
12.9 million living in poverty last year, or 17.6
percent of the under-18 population. That was an
increase of about 800,000 from 2002, when 16.7 percent
of all children were in poverty. 

The Census Bureau's definition of poverty varies by
the size of the household. For instance, the threshold
for a family of four was $18,810, while for two people
it was $12,015. 

Nearly 45 million people lacked health insurance, or
15.6 percent of the population. That was up from 43.5
million in 2002, or 15.2 percent, but was a smaller
increase than in the two previous years. 

Uninsured rates for children, though, were relatively
stable at 11.4 percent, likely the result of recent
expansions of coverage in government programs covering
the poor and children, such as the state Children's
Health Insurance Program, analysts said. 

Meanwhile, the median household income, when adjusted
for inflation, remained basically flat last year at
$43,318. Whites, blacks and Asians saw no noticeable
change, but income fell 2.6 percent for Hispanics to
nearly $33,000. Asians had the highest income at over
$55,000, while whites made $47,800 and blacks nearly
$30,000. 

Census Bureau analyst Dan Weinberg said the results
were typical of a post-recession period. He said the
increase in people without insurance was due to the
uncertain job picture. 

"Certainly the long-term trend is firms offering less
generous (benefit) plans, and as people lose jobs they
tend to lose health insurance coverage," he said. 

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry seized on
the numbers as evidence the Bush administration's
economic policies have failed. During the years Bush
has been in office, 5.2 million people have lost
health insurance and 4.3 million have fallen into
poverty, he said. 

"Under George Bush's watch, America's families are
falling further behind," Kerry said. 

Bush administration officials were quick to counter
that the data didn't reflect more recent gains in the
economy in the first half of 2004 and left some of the
blame on Congress. Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson said Bush was focusing on proposals
that would reduce the costs of health insurance for
businesses. 

"The big failure is not what is happening in the
administration," Thompson said. "Individuals in the
Senate have failed to adopt the president's health
care plan."
 
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe
Barton, R-Texas, noted that while more people lost
insurance, the number of Americans who had coverage
grew by 1 million last year. Overall, 243 million
people had insurance in 2003.
 
"The bottom line is this: More people in America have
health coverage today than at any time in our nation's
history and I think that's a fact worth noting, but we
can always do more," Barton said.
 
Even before release of the data, some Democrats
claimed the Bush administration was trying to play
down bad news by releasing the reports a month earlier
than usual. The reports normally come out separately
in late September — one on poverty and income, the
other on insurance. 
	 
Releasing the numbers at the same time and not so
close to Election Day "invite charges of spinning the
data for political purposes," said Rep. Carolyn
Maloney (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.
 
Census Director Louis Kincannon — a Bush appointee —
denied politics played any role in moving up the
release date. The move, announced earlier this year,
was done to coordinate the numbers with the release of
other data. 

Official national poverty estimates, as well as most
government data on income and health insurance, come
from the bureau's Current Population Survey.
 
This year the bureau is simultaneously releasing data
from the broader American Community Survey, which also
includes income and poverty numbers but cannot be
statistically compared with the other survey. 




		
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