New U.S. Census report shows poverty increasing more in West than elsewhere
September 10, 2009Income in the 13 western states didn't decline as steeply in 2008 as elsewhere in the country, but poverty went up more, according to a researcher at the West Coast Poverty Center at the University of Washington.
Jennifer Romich, an associate professor of social work who analyzed data released Thursday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau, determined that real median income in the West declined by 2 percent to $55,085, compared with a nationwide decline of 3.6 percent.
But poverty in the West went from 12 percent to 13.5 percent, slightly higher than the 13.2 percent national figure.
"More than one out of every eight Americans was below the official poverty line, and the new numbers show poverty is growing faster in the West as the recession is felt here," said Romich, who analyzed "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008."
Nationwide, more people were without health insurance but the overall rate was statistically unchanged, with 15.4 percent uninsured. In the West, however, the percentage of people without health insurance rose from 16.9 percent in 2007 to 17.4 percent in 2008.
The full Census report is at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-236.pdf .
Feb 07, 2010
1) percentage uninsured very stable at 15% for 20 years... NOT increasing;
2) of 46 Million reported uninsured, 9.7 Million are not citizens and according to president's address to congress, will NOT be covered after any insurance reform if they are illegally in the country;
3) 12.3M non-citizens ARE covered by insurance;
4) a third of the population is already covered by government insurance;
5) 2/3 covered by private insurance;
6) only 8.9% insured by privately purchased (non-employer based) insurance.
Given that last statistic, is there any wonder why the insurance companies focus on satisfying the employers instead of the patients? ...that is who is selecting them!
IMHO: the employees should OWN the health policies and select the providers... i.e. BE the customer. Would you like it if your employer took your car payment out of your salary and bought you the car THEY wanted instead of what YOU wanted?
Power to the people! Not gov!