| WASHINGTON
- September 30 - The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about the Census Bureau's newly released findings that the number of uninsured Americans rose to 43.6 million during 2002:
"Last year's growth in the number of people without health coverage is the largest increase in a decade. The huge number of uninsured Americans now exceeds the cumulative population of 24 states plus the District of Columbia. (1 )
"The increase in the number of people without health coverage is the direct result of our weak and job-losing economy. This increase was caused by unemployment growth, double-digit health cost increases, and employers - who find spiraling health costs to be unaffordable - passing on more and more of those costs to their workers.
"The only silver lining in the Census Bureau report is that, once again, public programs - especially Medicaid - covered more people and cushioned the loss of employer-provided health insurance. It underscores the importance of protecting the Medicaid program.
"The Census Bureau's report should be a clarion call to the President and the Congress to take effective action quickly so that recently laid-off people and workers in jobs that provide no health coverage can gain such coverage for themselves and their families. The failure to do so may have significant repercussions in the 2004 elections."
Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
(1) Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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