The percentage of Americans without health insurance stayed steady at about 15.4% in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
While the percentage of Americans with private coverage fell from 67.5% in 2007 to 66.7% in 2008, the percentage covered by government health insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid rose from 27.8% in 2007 to 29% in 2008.
Overall, the number of uninsured Americans increased to 46.3 million in 2008, from 45.7 million the previous year. The new figures, which were released by the Census Bureau on Sept. 10, come from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey. The survey asks questions about health coverage in the previous calendar year.
However, the data may underestimate the number of uninsured. David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics division, said that the Current Population Survey counts individuals as having insurance if they were insured during any part of the year. This could undercount individuals who lost employer-based coverage later in the year due to layoffs.
The Census data also showed that 7.3 million U.S. children (about 9.9%) went without health insurance coverage in 2008. This is the lowest rate and number of uninsured children in the United States since 1987, according to the data. The change may be due to more children gaining health insurance through government programs like the Children's Health Insurance Program. The Census Bureau estimates about 33% of children were enrolled in some type of government health insurance program in 2008, up from 31% the previous year.