Uninsured in America

Several provisions of the new healthcare law also called the Affordable Care Act went into effect yesterday. Yesterday also was the day when the GOP unveiled its Pledge for America. The document included proposals to cut spending and taxes, a staple. In addition it also included a proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In case you haven't noticed, we are in an election cycle and each side will spend the next few weeks touting or assailing the new healthcare law.

But politics aside, the reality is that number of uninsured has been on a steady rise for the last decade. For the first time last year it crossed the 50 million mark. Now there can be debate about whether all the 50 million are legal residents or not. But that's besides the point. The number of uninsured has risen in almost every age group (except the under 18), as the graph below shows, and the recession has made it worse.

Data Source: US Census Bureau