Overview

In a period of rising unemployment rates and new threats to public health, insurance that provides ready access to affordable medical care is vital to the nation's future health and economic security. Yet based on a new survey sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, one of four working-age adults ages 19 to 64, some 38 million people, was either uninsured or had been uninsured at some point during the past year. Moreover, an estimated 30 percent of unemployed adults were uninsured when surveyed or had experienced a period without health coverage earlier in the year.

These findings are particularly troubling given that the survey was conducted in mid-2001, a time when labor markets were tighter. With the number of uninsured expected to rise as job losses mount, the survey's findings that adults who have had a relatively brief spell without insurance—even a few months—are just as likely as the longterm uninsured to face problems accessing health care or paying for medical bills portend even greater health insecurity in the near future.

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