- Insurance
New analysis paints a sharper picture of the uninsured
When the Census Bureau releases its report on insurance coverage, the media and groups like ours always note with dismay the growing number of uninsured Americans. But behind the big figure that catches our eye--this year, 15.8%--is a more complex story. According to new analysis of the 2006 data by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, "Nearly 27 percent of self-employed workers were uninsured, compared with 18.8 percent of all workers." Additionally, "Part-time or part-year workers," a group that includes a lot of freelancers, "accounted for 29.3 percent of the employed population, but accounted for 39.6 of uninsured workers."