Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 20, 1994                   TAG: 9410200077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

9 MILLION MORE IN U.S. LACK HEALTH INSURANCE

Thirty-one million Americans went without health insurance in 1987, or 12.9 percent of the population, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said Wednesday.

By 1993, the ranks of the uninsured had grown to 39.7 million, or 15.3 percent of the population.

Medicaid coverage of the poor and near poor grew sharply during those six years, with 11 million people - mostly young children and pregnant women - added to the Medicaid rolls. Twelve percent of the population, or 32 million people, now are on Medicaid.

But fewer people got private insurance through their jobs. The percentage of the population with employer-related health coverage fell from 62 percent in 1988 to 57 percent in 1993. (The 1987 figure was not available).

The center said 12 million more Americans would have been covered last year had it not been for the drop in job-related coverage.

Twenty-eight million, or 72 percent, of those without health insurance last year had incomes above the poverty line, which is almost $15,000 for a family of four.

The number of people who are not poor but who lack health insurance grew by 5.3 million.

President Clinton had proposed requiring all employers and individuals to buy health insurance, but Congress refused to make it mandatory or pass any health reforms.

Almost one child in four now is covered by Medicaid, up from one in six in 1988. States must provide Medicaid coverage to children from poor families.

But even with expansions, Medicaid still covers fewer than half of all poor people.