In the comments section of Jill Quadagno’s 08.04.05 post, Gordon Brown wrote:
“Over half of the acclaimed 40,000,000 uninsured are that way by choice. Financial choice that is. The same people that say they can’t afford health
insurance because of family rates between $300 and $700/mo per
family….have between over $1000/mo in auto expenses, the highest
cable/satelite TV package, their teens and the parents have cell phones.”
Jill Quadagno responds:
Contrary to the idea that the uninsured are affluent people who choose
expensive cars over health insurance, here are the real facts. Low-income
adults make up the largest pool of the uninsured in the United
States. While about 17 percent of all adults in the US lack health insurance, 42
percent of those with incomes below the federal poverty level are uninsured
as are 34 percent of adults with incomes 100 to 199 percent of poverty level. These are hardly affluent families who purchase fancy cars but ignore their family’s health. Rather they are people who are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to feed and clothe their children and pay
their rent and electric bills.
Jill Quadagno is the author of One Nation, Uninsured.
LINK to official US poverty guidlines for 2005.
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