Who are the uninsured?  Well, if you listen to the politicians, they all throw around the 47 million uninsured numbers daily and on occasion you will hear 50 million just to make a nice round number.  The figure comes from the census department.

Yet, who are these people that don’t have insurance.  Of the 47 million about 14 million are people that are poor and eligible for Medicaid.  However, they simply choose to not sign up.  Another large section of people are young people that believe they are indestructible, and are in their 20s.  The last major group people are people between jobs, and will in fact have insurance again with a new job. Oh, and we can’t forget illegal’s.  My understanding is that the Census department does not ask if you are an illegal alien or not.

Politicians throw this number of 47 million around as if there are 47 million people that can’t get insurance.  They throw it around as if it’s the exact same 47 million people year in and year out.  It’s not, the pool of people without insurance changes all the time.

I have had numerous employees over the years that simply choose to not have insurance due to the cost.  They are making a choice.  I also have employees that have a bit of a lag beteen their past insurance and ours.  I always suggest they by a catestrophic coverage policy until my company’s insurance kicks in.  Some choose this and others don’t. 

I found a great article that pretty much lays the above out but in greater detail.  Check it out at:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/who-are-the-uninsured/