WASHINGTON — More than one-third of the people in the United States younger than 65 had no health insurance for some or all of 2006 and 2007, according to a study released Thursday by Families USA, an advocacy group for the uninsured.
The 89.6 milllion individuals identifying themselves as lacking insurance was almost double the number of uninsured reported by the Census Bureau for 2006, the group said.
“It’s simply unacceptable that for lack of basic health coverage, nearly 90 million Americans had to live in fear of illness and injury in the last two years,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over national health-care programs.
California had the largest number of uninsured individuals younger than 65 during some or all of that two-year period — 13 million, or nearly 41 percent of the state’s under-65 residents. Texas was second, with 9.3 million. Americans age 65 or older are eligible for Medicare and were not considered in the study.
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