Data: Number of Insured Americans Up Slightly in 2010

By Haydn Bush	September 16, 2011
The number of Americans with health insurance increased by 900,000 in 2010. The small gain was attributed to an increase in Americans covered through the government.

The number of Americans with health insurance increased slightly in 2010, though the overall percentage did not change significantly, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. Overall, 256 million Americans had insurance in 2010, up from 255 million in 2009. The number of people with private health insurance declined from 64.5 percent to 64 percent, while the percent covered by government insurance went from 30.6 percent to 31 percent.

Among the report's other findings:

• In 2010, 15.9 percent of Americans were covered by Medicaid, roughly the same amount covered in 2009.
• 9.8 percent of children had no health insurance in 2010. For children below the poverty line, 15.4 percent were uninsured.
• The percent of Americans covered by employment-based insurance dipped from 56.1 percent to 55.3 percent.
• Overall, the Northeast and the Midwest had the lowest uninsured rates in 2010.

Read the full report here.

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Source: http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/HHNDaily/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=7440007234

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