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One in four Americans without health coverage:studyThu, Apr 19 2012

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders the fate ofhealthcare reform in the current election year, a study released on Thursdayshows that one in four working-age Americans went without insurance at somepoint in 2011, often as a result of unemployment and other job changes.

The study by the Commonwealth Fund polled 2,100 people aged 19 to 64 andfound that 26 percent of non-elderly adults went without insurance -- apercentage that researchers said equals about 48 million people when measuredagainst U.S. Census data.

The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit organization that analyzes healthcareissues, said that seven in 10 of those who lost insurance spent a year or morewithout coverage, partly because plans sold on the individual market for healthinsurance were unaffordable.

Without insurance, people quickly disconnected from the healthcare system by avoiding basic medical services such as doctor visitsand screenings for cancer, cholesterol and high blood pressure.

The results provide a disturbing snapshot of the $2.6 trillion U.S. healthcare system at a time when government officials are wrestlingwith stubbornly high unemployment rates and uncertainty about the future of the federal healthcare overhaul.

President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would seek to close gaps in health insurance beginning in2014 by extending coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans, either through subsidized state insurance markets or anexpansion of the Medicaid program for the poor.

But the law could be overturned by the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds before the end of June. It also faces repeated callsfor repeal from Republican candidates running in this year's election campaign.

The Commonwealth Fund said more than 40 percent of those who lost insurance had been covered by employer-sponsored plans.Another 18 percent were dropped from Medicaid rolls, while 27 percent had never been insured.

The results have a 3 percentage point margin of error.

Conducted online from June 24 to July 5, 2011, the survey reflected continuing effects from economic recession.

Study author Sara Collins said gaps in health coverage, particularly in the individual and small group markets, are longstandingproblems likely to continue as the economy grows.

Employer-provided insurance is a main pillar of the U.S. healthcare market, covering the healthcare needs of about 150 millionnon-elderly people. But employer coverage has become increasingly expensive in recent years, prompting many companies toreduce benefits or raise costs for their workers.

(Reporting By David Morgan; editing by M.D. Golan)

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