March 9, 2004

Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured in America

Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony this afternoon on the nations growing uninsured population and the consequences of leaving 43 million Americans without health insurance coverage. I am Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Health insurance coverage remains one of the nations most pressing and persistent health care challenges. The most recent data from the Census Bureau show that more than one in every seven Americans 43.6 million adults and children were without health insurance in 2002. This is not only a large problem, but a growing problem for millions of Americans. From 2001 to 2002, the number of Americans lacking health insurance increased by 2.4 million. Public coverage expansions through Medicaid helped to moderate the growth in the uninsured, most notably by providing coverage to children in low-income families, but were not enough to offset the decline in private coverage. Lack of coverage compromises not only access to care and the health of the uninsured, but also the health and economic wellbeing of our nation.