Braun responds to census bureau report on growing number of uninsured

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago, IL. The Bureau of the Census reported that the ranks of Americans without health insurance rose to 43.6 million in 2002, an increase of 2.4 million from 2001. That means 15.2 percent of the U.S. population had no health insurance last year, compared with 14.6 percent in 2001.

Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, issued the following statement in response to the report:

The latest report on the number of Americans without health insurance is a clarion call for reform of our health care system.

It is simply unacceptable that the richest nation in the world spends far more per person for health care than other industrialized countries, yet 15% of Americans remain without health care insurance coverage. This is not just a problem for the poor and unemployed. Middle-income households accounted for most of increase in the number of uninsured. The number of uninsured full-time workers increased by 897,000 last year to 19.9 million. The large numbers of uninsured Americans, combined with the ever-increasing costs of coverage, make our businesses less competitive in the world market.

Incremental reforms are simply not enough. Americans obtain health care through a variety of payment schemes, from insurance to HMOs; Medicaid to Medicare; to simply, in the worst cases, showing up at the emergency room. We only have to look to Texas to see where we are heading under the current policies: almost one in four Texans does not have health insurance.

We must make fundamental changes in how we provide medical care for our people. It is time to embrace true reform by providing universal health care and reject our current, employer-based system of coverage. As President, I will make this common sense reform a national priority.