August 28, 2007
Statement from the Partnership for Quality Care on the Census Bureau Report
Statement from the Partnership for Quality Care on the Census Bureau Report
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006
The U.S. Census Bureau report released today contains truly sobering data on the number of Americans without health insurance. The report found that, from 2005 to 2006, the number of uninsured Americans grew from 44.8 million to 47 million, a 5% increase. The news was even worse for kids: 8.7 million American children were uninsured in 2006, a staggering 8% increase from 2005. In just one year, the number of uninsured kids in the U.S. grew by over 600,000.
These alarming numbers confirm what healthcare providers and workers see every day -- America's healthcare system is failing more and more Americans.
Children and adults without insurance lack access to primary and preventive care, and miss vaccinations and checkups. Far too many end up in emergency rooms for expensive treatment of conditions that could have been far more effectively treated, at far less cost, had they received care sooner.
Today's Census Bureau report affirms the dire need for reliable and affordable access to health care coverage for all Americans within a reformed health care system that aggressively promotes improved quality and efficiency. The Partnership for Quality Care will continue to advocate for efforts, such as the renewal and expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and an increased tobacco tax, that promote affordable access to the highest quality healthcare.
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Launched in May 2007, the Partnership for Quality Care is a unique nationwide organization, a labor-management partnership of healthcare providers and healthcare workers. It includes more than 1 million workers, as well as public, private, religious, teaching and nonprofit hospitals and integrated health systems caring for more than 45 million patients annually.
Click here to read the PDF.
