Monday, 26 March 2007
Census Bureau Overstated Number Of Uninsured Americans
A recent software upgrade at the U.S. Census Bureau turned up a some welcome news: the number of Americans without health insurance is less than previously thought. It turns out the Census Bureau had overstated the number of Americans without insurance by nearly 2 million people.
In 2005, the Census Bureau measured that there were 46.6 million uninsured Americans, when the actual number was 44.8 million. Now that the software glitch has been discovered, they’ve acknowledged that their numbers of uninsured have been inflated for at least 10 years.
The most recent population survey counted around 1.8 million Americans as “not covered” even though they reported having health insurance. The survey tabulates income, employment, and health insurance coverage data. No one is certain what caused the software error, and he Census Bureau has said no other questions were affected by it.
They’ve reissued the numbers for 2004 and 2005 and will also correct their data back until 1995.
“We are committed to ensuring that the nation has the most accurate numbers we can provide in a timely manner,” said Howard Hogan, Census Bureau associate director for demographic programs.
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