More Americans have health insurance

The number of Americans without health insurance declined by 1.7 million people, or 3.8%, between 1998 and 1999, the first decrease since the US Census Bureau (www.census.gov/) began collecting comparable health insurance data in 1987. “The driving force behind this improvement was an increase in the likelihood of people having employment-based health insurance,” said Robert Mills, author of Health Insurance Coverage: 1999.

In 1999, 42.6 million were uninsured, compared with 44.3 million the previous year. The proportion of Americans without health insurance coverage declined from 16.3% in 1998 to 15.5% in 1999. In comparison, 13.9% of the population (34.7 million people) were uninsured in 1990.

One of the most dramatic improvements was among children 18 years old and younger. The proportion of uninsured children declined by 9.9%, from 11.1 million children in 1998 to 10 million in 1999. Young adults (18 to 24) remain the least likely age group (71%) to have health insurance coverage.

Both the number and percentage of uninsured poor remained unchanged from 1998: 10.4 million poor Americans, or 32.4%, had no medical insurance; only 8.3% of those with incomes of $75 000 or more were uninsured. —