Statement on U.S. Census Bureau Health Insurance Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 10, 2019
Contact: Clare Fauke, Physicians for a National Health Program, clare@pnhp.org

Statement from Dr. Adam Gaffney, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage report:

“The number of Americans without health coverage is on the rise, new figures from the Census Bureau show. In 2018, some 2 million people in the U.S. lost coverage relative to the previous year, demonstrating that our current system is not only broken, but getting worse.

“This rise in the number of the uninsured reflects the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on our health care safety net, specifically Medicaid, a public insurance program relied upon by low-income Americans. Yet these attacks exacerbate an already untenable situation, in which nearly 30 million Americans have been left without health coverage, and many more with inadequate coverage.

“Physicians see daily the harm that this inflicts on our patients. People with asthma or heart disease who don’t take their medications because they can’t afford the prescription; people with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or cancer who can’t get the care they need because of skyrocketing costs and wind up in the hospital, or worse.

“The only solution is improved Medicare for All — a system that guarantees first-dollar coverage for all medically necessary services to everyone in the U.S. Other patches – like a public option – will invariably fall. A majority of Americans and a majority of doctors now support Medicare for All. It’s time for our elected officials to follow.”

Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org) is a nonprofit research and education organization whose more than 23,000 members support single-payer national health insurance.